May 11th 2006
As the women’s highly successful Super League series reaches it penultimate round this Saturday at Broadstreet RFC the competition continues to hot up with everything to play for.
After five rounds England A coach Amanda Bennett’s Hurricanes outfit, based in Harpenden, still dominate the league table with three wins out of four, but the Tornadoes and the Stormers are both level on 10 points and are still within touching distance of stealing the crown.
Gary Street, England Academy and South West Stormers coach, knows his side can upset the league rankings if they pull of a win against favourites Hurricanes this weekend and Graham Smith’s Thunder outfit in the final round of Super League action on May 21st.
Street, whose side includes Six Nations winners and World Cup hopefuls Rachel Vickers (Richmond) and Kim Oliver (Clifton), said: “The Stormers made a serious step forward in our last Super League outing beating Thunder 27-25 and I am looking for more of the same on Saturday.
“Taking on the Hurricanes will be tough but I am confident of a good result against them, a side who will be feeling the pressure with two difficult fixtures to go. We are going all out to win our remaining fixtures and win them well to get a bonus point or two. We have still got everything to play for and the title is within our reach.”
The Stormers kick-off at 12pm, before the Tornadoes and Thunder clash at 145pm.
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’s Rugby World Cup in Edmonton, Canada.
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.
Tornadoes team (coached by England head coach Geoff Richards)
1 Hannah Farquarhson (Richmond), 2 Selina Rudge (Wasps), 3 Heidi Shelberg (Wasps), 4 Jenny Lyne (Richmond), 5 Jo McGilchrist ( Wasps), 6 Shannon Baker (Richmond), 7 Maggie Alphonsi (Saracens), 8 Karen Jones © (Wasps), 9 Susie Appleby (Worcester), 10 Shelley Rae (Wasps), 11 Kim Shaylor (Worcester), 12 Sally Wise (Saracens), 13 Rachel Burford (Henley), 14 Sarah Wakeford (Richmond), 15 Sarah Marsh (Wasps). Replacements: 16 Clare Purdy (Wasps), 17 Vanessa Huxford (Wasps), 18 TBC, 19 TBC, 20 Nicky Meston (Richmond), 21 Tina Lee (Richmond), 22 Sue Day (Wasps).
Stormers team (coached by Gary Street, England Academy Coach)
1 Sophie Hemming (Clifton), 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 (Folkestone), 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 Tracy Barber (Worcester), 17 Helen Duffin (Plymouth Albion), 18 Natalie Binstead (Wasps), 19 Terri Cormack (Plymouth Albion), 20 George Rozario (Plymouth Albion), 21 Nancy Stone (Plymouth Albion), 22 Anna Shepherd (Plymouth Albion).
Hurricanes team (Coached by Amanda Bennett, England A Head Coach)
1 Maxine Edwards (Capt) (Saracens), 2 Amy Garnett (Saracens), 3 Vanessa Gray (Wasps), 4 Jo Nicholson (The Army), 5 Jenny Sutton (Richmond), 6 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), 7 Sonia Green (Saracens), 8 Leah Carey (Lichfield), 9 Amy Turner (Wasps), 10 Emily Ryall (Saracens), 11 Karina Page (Old Albanians), 12 Karen Andrew (Saracens), 13 Charlotte Barras (Lichfield), 14 Claire Davies (Richmond), 15 Vicky Massarella (Saracens). Replacements: 16 Sam Dale (Worcester), 17 Mel Mckenzie (Henley), 18 Emma Dresser (Lichfield), 19 Lou Seymour (Saracens), 20 Sarah Hudson (Henley/The Army).
Thunder team (Coached by Graham Smith, England assistant coach) (Provisional team – subject to change)
1 Rochelle Clark (Henley), 2 Ann O’Flynn (Lichfield), 3 Isabel Howard (Vale of Lune), 4 Becky Essex (Worcester), 5 Tamara Taylor (Thirsk), 6 Kerry Barber (Worcester), 7 Lois Moulding (Worcester), 8 Sarah Beale (Leo’s), 9 Ally Taft, 10 Katie McLean (Thirsk), 11 Lucy Lynch (Lichfield), 12 Ellen Small (Waterloo), 13 Jo Watmore (Thirsk), 14 Nicky Crawford (Worcester), 15 Megan Youdan (Chester). Replacements: 16 Ollie Poore (Lichfield), 17 Roz Crawley (Lichfield), 18 Ali Stevens (Lichfield), 19 Lyn Hodgkinson (Thirsk), 20 Abi Mowbray (Thirsk), 21 Alice Lovett (Lichfield), 22 TBC.
Super League Table
Team P W D L For Against Diff Pts
Hurricanes 4 3 1 0 81 53 28 15
Tornadoes 4 2 0 2 91 40 51 10
Stormers 4 2 0 2 56 69 -13 10
Thunder 4 0 1 3 52 118 -66 4
Super League Fixtures
Saturday May 13th Broadstreet RFC
Stormers v Hurricanes – 12pm KO
Tornadoes v Thunder - 145pm KO
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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