England Women’s Head Coach Gary Street hasrung the changes ahead of Sunday’s Six Nations clash against Italy, kick off 2pm GMT, at the Centro Sportivo in Parabiago,Milan.
On the back of England’s opening nine try, 47-0, victory against Scotland, England head to Italy in confident spirits. Lichfield Number 8 Sarah Hunter will skipper England with captain Katy McLean rested on the bench. There are also first Six Nations starts this season for Worcester’s Rochelle Clark, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks’ Tamara Taylor, Wasps’ La Toya Mason and Bristol’s Kim Oliver.
Hooker Amy Tuner and prop Laura Keates come off the bench to form a new front row partnership with Clark, whilst Ceri Large and Mason are the half backs for this match. Wing Georgina Roberts is also called off the bench to start alongside Kay Wilson whilst Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt moves to full back.
Street, whose side are gunning for a seventh consecutive title and another Grand Slam, said: “I am delighted to welcome back some of our more experienced players for our game against Italy. They will bring calmness and experience to our squad and help to take our performance up another level, whilst some of our younger players; Ceri Large, Laura Keates and Izzy Noel-Smith will have the chance to stake their claim for the shirt as they start.
“We had a good result against Scotland to kick start our campaign, but there is a lot to improve on, including our execution and I will be looking for the team to do that this weekend. Italy had a good second half against an on-form French side last weekend, conceding only one try in that period, so we are expecting an even tougher game this Sunday.”
England
15 Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)
14 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
13 Rachael Burford (VC)(Richmond)
12 Kimberley Oliver (Bristol)
11 Kay Wilson (Bristol)
10 Ceri Large (Worcester)
9 La Toya Mason (Wasps)
1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester)
2 Amy Turner (Richmond)
3 Laura Keates (Worcester)
4 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond)
5 Tamara Taylor(Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
6 Isabelle Noel-Smith (Bristol)
7 MarliePacker (Bristol)
8 SarahHunter (C) (Lichfield)
Replacements:
16 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield)
17 Claire Purdy (Wasps)
18 Emily Braund (Lichfield)
19 Hannah Gallagher (Saracens)
20 Georgina Rozario (Lichfield)
21 Katy McLean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks)
22 Katherine Merchant (Worcester)
England’s Six Nations Fixtures:
February 5th 2012, Scotland v England, Lasswade, Edinburgh, WON 47-0
February 12th 2012, Italy v England, Parabiago, Nr Milan, KO 2pm GMT
February 25th, 2012, England v Wales, Twickenham Stadium, KO 615pm
Live on the BBC Red Button and on www.bbc.co.uk/sport. Free entry to the stadium after the men’s Six Nations match.
March 11th, 2012, France v England, Stade Charlety, Paris, KO 1245pm GMT
Live on Sky Sport HD2 Red Button.
March 17th 2012 England v Ireland, Esher RFC, KO 2pm.
Live on www.rfu.com/englandwomenlive.com. Tickets can be purchased on game day on the gate or online at http://www.esherrugby.com/ticket_sales.html, priced £10 for adults, £5 for Under 16s.
