March 5th, 2007
England Women’s head coach Geoff Richards has made two changes to the team that will play France on Sunday at Old Albanians RFC, kick-off 145pm, in what’s set to be the crunch match of the RBS Women’s 6 Nations championship.
England 2006 IRB Rugby World Cup finalist Rochelle Clark returns to the starting line-up for the first time since England narrowly lost 25-17 to New Zealand in September’s final.
The Henley prop has been out of action with a back injury, but returned to training with England last month and featured in Henley’s 5-0 Premiership away win against Lichfield at the weekend.
Richards said: “Rochelle was out of action with a back injury and it has taken a lot of rest and rehab to get her fit. However, she has recovered 100 percent now and played really well on Sunday.
“To have a player of Rochelle’s calibre back in the front-row ahead of a game like France is fantastic news because when she’s fit she’s one of the best players in the world.
“Having said that Sophie Hemming, who misses out this week, has performed tremendously well. She has certainly learned from the experience of playing for England and will move on to big and better things in the near future.”
Saracens fly-half Karen Andrew also returns to the starting line-up with Thirsk’s Katy McLean moving to the bench after her impressive role in England’s 32-0 win over Ireland on February 25th.
Reigning Grand Slam champions England, who are yet to concede a point in this season’s RBS 6 Nations after wins over Scotland, Italy and Ireland, head into the match with two victories against France over the last 12 months. These include a bruising 28-0 defeat on their turf in last year’s Six Nations as well as a 27-8 defeat to England in the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup.
However, unlike England, France is a side relatively unchanged since the Rugby World Cup. They have not been hit by the retirements of several key players and will head into this match against England in a strong position. And with both teams topping the Six Nations table, this is a crunch match Richards readily admits.
He added: “We would love to continue winning against France but this is very much the crunch game of the championship for both sides. France have got a very similar side to what they had at the world cup, with just one player retired, where as we are a new and developing side. This is going to be a big test for us because they have always been a very good side, but we are still very strong and we are looking forward to the challenge.”
England team
1 Rochelle Clark (Henley)
2 Amy Garnett (Saracens)
3 Katy Storie (Blaydon)
4 Tamara Taylor (Thirsk)
5 Jo McGilchrist (Wasps)
6 Georgia Stevens (Clifton)
7 Maggie Alphonsi (Saracens) VC
8 Catherine Spencer (Worcester)
9 Amy Turner (Wasps)
10 Karen Andrew (Saracens)
11 Sue Day (Wasps) C
12 Rachel Burford (Saracens)
13 Claire Allan (Saracens)
14 Danielle Watermen (Clifton)
15 Charlotte Barras (Saracens)
Replacements:
16 Emma Layland (Richmond)
17 Vanessa Gray (Wasps)
18 Sarah Beale (Leos)
19 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield)
20 Katy McLean (Thirsk)
21 Michaela Staniford (Wasps)
22 Amber Penrith (Cardiff Quins)
RBS Women’s 6 Nations table
Country P W D L For Against Points
England 3 3 0 0 115 0 6
France 3 3 0 0 65 27 6
Wales 3 2 0 1 20 20 4
Scotland 3 1 0 2 26 76 2
Ireland 3 0 0 3 15 55 0
Italy 3 0 0 3 23 86 0
England’s RBS 6 Nations fixtures & results:
England v Scotland, February 3rd, kick-off 230pm at Old Albanians RFC WON 60-0
England v Italy, February 10th, kick-off 415pm at Twickenham WON 23-0
Ireland v England, February 25th, kick-off 2pm at Thomond Park, Limerick WON 32-0
England v France, March 11th, kick-off 145pm at Old Albanians RFC
Wales v England, March 17th, kick-off 230pm at Taffs Wells, near Cardiff RFC
Ends…
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