April 25th, 2006
The Women’s highly successful Super League series will get its debut at Broadstreet RFC this Saturday with the Hurricanes looking to extend their lead at the top of the league table with just three rounds to go.
Amanda Bennett’s Hurricanes outfit, which are based in Harpenden, are the only side not to have lost a game this season but they face a tough clash against England head coach Geoff Richards’ Tornadoes, who sit just two points adrift on the league ladder.
With Richards, who steered England to Six Nations Grand Slam success this year, cherry picking internationals like Wasps duo Vanessa Huxford and Selena Rudge and Saracens’ Maggie Alphonsi, he’ll be eager to grab a victory and turn the tables before the penultimate round next month.
Graham Smith’s Thunder team will also be looking for their first win of the Super League series as they take on the South West Stormers, who are only three points ahead.
Super League is a new competition this year, designed to provide a high level of intense competition which consistently tests the skills of the country’s top 90 England eligible players ahead of this summer Rugby World Cup. The 90 players have been taken out of the regular club season to compete in one of four teams in a two round league tournament. The 44 members of England’s Elite squad only play Super League and England representative rugby this season.
Hurricanes (coached by England A coach Amanda Bennett)
1 Vanessa Grey (Wasps), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Maxine Edwards (Saracens), 4 Jo Nicholson (The Army), 5 Jenny Sutton (Richmond), 6 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 7 Helen Clayton (C) (Saracens), 8 Leah Carey (Lichfield), 9 Lou Seymour (Saracens), 10 Karen Andrew (Saracens), 11 Charlotte Barras (Lichfield), 12 Amy Turner (Wasps), 13 Karina Page (Old Albanians), 14 Clare Davies (Richmond), 15 Vicky Massarella (Saracens). Replacements: 16 Sam Dale (Worcester), 17 Mel Mckenzie (Henley), 18 Emily Ryall (Saracens), 19 Sarah Hudson (Henley/The Army), 20 Kat Merchant (Worcester).
Thunder (coached by England assistant coach Graham Smith)
1 Rochelle Clark (Henley), 2 Ollie Poore (Lichfield), 3 Isabel Howard (Vale of Lune), 4 Becky Essex (Worcester), 5 Tamara Taylor (Thirsk), 6 Hannah Shields (Thirsk), 7 Lois Moulding (Worcester), 8 Sarah Beale (Leo’s), 9 Abi Mowbray (Thirsk), 10 Katie McLean (Thirsk), 11 Lucy Lynch (Lichfield), 12 Ellen Small (Waterloo), 13 Shauna Vetch (Thirsk), 14 Nicky Crawford (Worcester), 15 Jo Watmore (Thirsk). Replacements: 16 Sarah White (Leo’s), 17 Roz Crawley (Lichfield), 18 Ali Stevens (Lichfield), 19 Kerry Barber (Worcester), 20 Lyn Hodgkinson (Thirsk), 21 Ally Taft (Lichfield), 22 Alice Lovett (Lichfield).
Tornadoes (coached by England head coach Geoff Richards)
1 Clare Purdy (Wasps), 2 Selena Rudge (Wasps), 3 Vanessa Huxford (Wasps), 4 Jenny Lyne (Richmond), 5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps), 6 Shannon Baker (Richmond), 7 Maggie Alphonsi (Saracens), 8 Karen Jones (Waps), 9 Nicky Meston (Richmond), 10 Shelley Rae (Wasps), 11 Tina Lee (Richmond), 12 Sally Wise (Saracens), 13 Kim Shaylor (Worcester), 14 Sarah Marsh (Wasps), 15 Sue Day. Replacements: 16 Clare Steer (Henley), 17 Hannah Farquarson (Richmond) 18 Heidi Shelberg (Wasps), 19 Susie Appleby (Worcester), 20 Sarah Wakeford (Richmond)
Stormers (coached by England Academy coach Gary Street)
1 Tracy Balmer (Worcester), 2 Emma Layland ( Richmond), 3 Katy Storie (Clifton),
4 Helen Durman (Saracens), 5 Rachael Vickers (Richmond), 6 Georgia Stevens (Clifton), 7 Katie Whyte (Worcester), 8 Catherine Spencer (Folkstone) 9 Danielle Waterman (Henley), 10 Alice Richardson (Worcester), 11 Emily Cooke (Clifton), 12 Kim Oliver (Clifton), 13 Clare Allan (Worcester), 14 Amber Penrith (Worcester), 15 George Roberts (Avon). Replacements: 16 Helen Duffin (Plymouth Albion), 17 Sonia Green (Saracens), 18 Terri Cormack (Plymouth Albion), 19 George Rozario (Plymouth Albion), 20 Nancy Stone (Plymouth Albion), 21 Anna Shepherd (Plymouth Albion).
Super League League Table
Team P W D L For Against Diff Pts
Hurricanes 3 2 1 0 61 36 25 11
Tornadoes 3 2 0 1 74 20 54 9
Stormers 3 1 0 2 29 44 -15 5
Thunder 3 0 1 2 27 91 -64 2
Super League Fixtures
Saturday April 29th Broadsheet RFC
Thunder v Stormers 12pm,
Hurricanes v Tornadoes 145pm
Weekend of May 13th Guinness Premiership semi-finals (venues TBC)
Stormers v Hurricanes
Tornados v Thunder
Sunday May 21st Mosley RFC
Tornadoes v Hurricanes 145pm
Stormers v Thunder 330pm
Please note: Venues and kick-off times could change. For the latest news check out rfu.com
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