May 17th, 2006
An array of England’s Six Nations winners will be looking to get their hands on some more silverware this Sunday with the highly successful Super League series reaching its climax at Moseley RFC.
The title is to be decided between England head coach Geoff Richards’ Tornadoes, whose side includes the likes of England and Wasps stars Selena Rudge and Vanessa Huxford and England A head coach Amanda Bennett’s Hurricanes, who has the luxury of also picking from seasoned-internationals Vanessa Gary and Charlotte Barras.
After six rounds and 12 matches, the Hurricanes have been the team setting the pace, but the Tornadoes have turned around their form since the New Year leaving Richards’ side just four points adrift. The Tornadoes need a win and to maintain their superior points advantage or a bonus point victory to take the glory at the final hurdle.
Richards said: “We are peaking at the right time and that’s what it’s all about. This is a quality team who I have every confidence in to get that win and take the title.”
The Tornadoes and Hurricanes also locked horns last month and as expected it was a tight clash, but the Hurricanes managed to survive all weathers to take the victory with a narrow 20-17 win.
Richards is hoping to reverse the tables this time around. He added: “The team were very disappointed to lose to the Hurricanes last time out. That was a very close game but we have improved on that performance.”
With the Rugby World Cup just around the corner, Super League, which was a new series introduced this season to provide a high level of intense competition to consistently test the skills of the country’s top 90 England eligible players, has certainly produced some top quality rugby and lived up to all expectations.
“With the best players in the country taking each other on on a regular basis, something that has never happened before, it has created some intense rivalry and this final is certainly going to be another thriller,” added Richards.
“The series has proved very successful. It has certainly fulfilled our expectations, which was to provide a high level competition. The other positive is that the series has provided the England fringe players with a real opportunity to put their hands up and put themselves in the reckoning for world cup selection.”
In the other final clash of the series the South West Stormers will take on Thunder, with Graham Smith’s Thunder outfit looking for their first win of the series.
Stormers team (coached by Gary Street, England Academy Coach)
1 Sophie Hemming (Clifton), 2 Emma Layland (Richmond), 3 Katy Storie (Clifton), 4 Natalie Binstead (Wasps), 5 Rachael Vickers (Richmond), 6 Georgia Stevens (Clifton), 7 Katie Whyte (Worcester), 8 Catherine Spencer (Clifton), 9 tbc, 10 Alice Richardson (Worcester), 11 Emily Cooke (Clifton), 12 Kim Oliver (Clifton), 13 Clare Allan (Worcester), 14 Amber Penrith (Worcester), 15 Nancy Stone (Henley). Replacements: 16 Helen Duffin (Plymouth Albion), 17 Tracey Balmer (Worcester), 18 Terry Cormack (Plymouth Albion), 19 tbc, 20 Anna Shepherd (Plymouth Albion), 21 George Roberts (Avon), 22 TBC
Tornadoes team (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 (c) (Wasps), 9 Susie Appleby (Worcester), 10 Shelley Rae (Wasps), 11 Kim Shaylor (Worcester), 12 Sally Wise (Saracens), 13 Rachel Burford (Henley), 14 Sarah Marsh (Wasps), 15 Sue Day (Wasps). Replacements: 16 Clare Steer (Plymouth Albion), 17 Hannah Farquarhson (Richmond), 18 Heidi Shelberg (Wasps), 19 TBC, 20 Nicky Meston (Richmond), 21 Tina Lee (Richmond), 22 TBC.
Thunder team (Coached by Graham Smith, England assistant coach)
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 (Lichfield), 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 Helen Clewer (Thirsk), 19 Hannah Shields (Thirsk), 20 Abi Mowbray (Thirsk), 21 Alice Lovett (Lichfield), 22 Megan Youdan (Chester)
Hurricanes squad (Coached by Amanda Bennett, England A Head Coach) (starting line-up tbc)
Amy Garnett (Saracens), Amy Turner (Wasps), Charlotte Barras (Lichfield), Claire Davies (Richmond), Emma Dresser (Lichfield), Jo Nicholson (The Army), Karen Andrew (Saracens), Karina Page (Old Albanians), Leah Carey (Lichfield),
Lou Seymour (Saracens), Maxine Edwards (Capt) (Saracens), Mel McKenzie (Henley), Sam Dale (Worcester), Sarah Hunter (Lichfield), Sonia Green (Saracens), Vanessa Gray (Wasps).
Super League Fixtures
Sunday May 21st Mosley RFC
Tornadoes v Hurricanes 145pm
Stormers v Thunder 330pm
Super League Table
Team P W D L For Against Diff Pts
Hurricanes 5 4 1 0 101 58 43 19
Tornadoes 5 3 0 2 135 40 95 15
Stormers 5 2 0 3 61 89 -28 10
Thunder 5 0 1 4 52 162 -110 4
Ends…
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