Sale Sharks have agreed deals with three of the North’s most promising rugby talents to join the club’s Senior Academy from the start of the 2025/26 season.
The talented trio hail from as far afield as Harrogate, in Yorkshire, and have all been involved in international age grade squads.
Lock Dylan Hodkinson and loosehead prop Oliver Spencer will join on full-time contracts, while flanker Will Bennett has signed a bursary contract, meaning he’ll combine his rugby with a degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.
All three were introduced to the crowd at half-time during Sharks’ last home game of the season on Friday night against Bristol.
And they’ll now look to follow in the footsteps of homegrown Sharks like Tom and Ben Curry, Tom Roebuck and Bevan Rodd.
Sharks Academy Manager Fergus Mulchrone said: “We are confident that we’ve identified three lads who, with hard work, dedication and the coaching they’ll get at Sale Sharks, can become Premiership rugby players.
“We have a really good relationship with clubs and schools right across the north and we’re incredibly grateful for the fantastic work done by the lads’ coaches to give them the foundations and develop them from a young age.
“In recent years lads like Tom Roebuck, Bevan Rodd, Raffi Quirke, Ben Curry and Tom Curry have come through the Senior Academy and gone on to become Sharks regulars and receive international call-ups. That’s the opportunity that these lads have if they work hard.
“Everyone at Sale Sharks is committed to developing a really strong, homegrown group of players and our work in the Academy is key to that.”
Dylan Hodkinson
Lock Dylan played his junior rugby at Anselmians and Wirral Rugby Club and went to Wirral Grammar School for Boys. He joined the Sharks DPP at the age of 14 and has played for Wales at U18s level.
Will Bennett
Flanker Will played his rugby at Sedbergh School and joined the Sharks DPP system when he was 15. He has been involved in England U17s and U18s camps but injuries meant he missed out on selection for games.
Oliver Spencer
Loosehead prop Oliver joins from Harrogate where he started playing rugby at the age of nine. A keen ballroom dancer, Oliver played in the Yorkshire Academy and went to school at the Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL). He has represented England at U18s level.
Oliver has supported Sale since the age of 11.
