Sale Women sign England fly-half Aitchison

Holly Aitchison has 40 caps for England

Sale Sharks Women have signed England fly-half Holly Aitchison from Premiership rivals Bristol Bears on a two-year deal.

The 27-year-old spent two years at Bristol and was a member of the 2025 England squad that won the Women's Six Nations Grand Slam.

"I'm super excited to be coming back up north. This is something I have always wanted to do in my career and I'm so glad now is the right time," Southport-born Aitchison told Sharks' club website.

"I'm looking forward to engaging with the community in Manchester and inspiring the next generation of Sharks and Red Roses.

"Ultimately, I want to help push northern rugby up to the top end of the game and that is the ambition in the coming years."

Aitchison began her professional career at Saracens where she won the Premier 15s title in 2022.

In 2024, she was named at fly-half in the World Rugby XV and also in this year's Premiership Women's Rugby team of the season.

"I've known about this news for a while, but I'm still as excited about this announcement as the fans will be, seeing it for the first time today," Sale head coach Tom Hudson added.

"It's a huge moment for us as a club to bring in a player like Holly and it says so much about our ambition as a club. It's massive for northern women's rugby too, to be able to bring her back home."