England Women’s captain says the Red Roses will bounce back

England Women’s skipper Catherine Spencer says her side are determined to bounce back to form when they take on Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations at St. Mary’s RFC in Dublin on Friday February 27th, kick-off 630pm.

The Red Roses suffered their first defeat since the 2006 IRB Rugby World Cup final against Wales nearly two weeks ago, and in losing that game it took away the chance of winning a fourth consecutive and unprecedented grand slam.

The Bristol No. 8 said: “With the break in games last weekend we’ve been able to come together as a squad and fit in some valuable training time. The team as a whole, and every individual, has been forced to look at our performance in great detail, but now we are all really chomping at the bit to take to the field against Ireland and put on a winning performance.

“The grand slam may have gone, but the Six Nations is still wide open. Wales have got some tough fixtures coming up, and we are determined to defend out title.”

Spencer admits England have also learnt some important lessons from their narrow 16-15 defeat, which she hopes her side can immediately build on against Ireland, and for the remainder of the Six Nations.

“Obviously we wouldn’t ever choose to lose a game, but it’s important to know what the pain of losing feels like so that we will fight even harder in the future to ensure that we never find ourselves in that position again. Much of the team that played against Wales had never lost a game in an England shirt before so we have all learnt some valuable lessons.”

England last played Ireland in December and won 19-8, with Spencer and Worcester’s Katherine Merchant scoring two late tries to secure the win, so Spencer is under no illusions about the tough challenge confronting England this Friday.


 
“Of course we want to go some way to making amends for our loss, but we are all very aware of the close match that we had against Ireland earlier this season,” she added.

“This will be another very tough game for us and we must front up in all areas and be on the top of our game to come away with the result that we want.”

 England

1 Rochelle Clark  Blaydon Team Northumbria
2 Amy Garnett  Saracens
3 Sophie Hemming  Bristol
4 Rebecca Essex  Richmond
5 Joanna McGilchrist Wasps
6 Karen Jones  Richmond
7 Gemma Sharples  Worcester
8 Catherine Spencer (C) Bristol
9 Georgina Rozario  Plymouth Albion
10 Katy McLean (VC) Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
11 Fiona Pocock  Richmond
12 Kimberley Oliver  Bristol
13 Emily  Scarratt  Lichfield
14 Francesca Matthews Richmond
15 Victoria Massarella Saracens
Replacements:    
16 Ollie Poore  Lichfield
17 Claire Purdy  Wasps
18 Natalie Binstead  Wasps
19 Lois Moulding  Lichfield
20 Amy Turner  Richmond
21 Alice Richardson  Richmond
22 Vicki Jackson  Lichfield
   
Head Coach: Gary Street 
Assistant Coach: Graham Smith

England Women RBS 6 Nations Fixtures:

Feb 7th England v Italy 13.30  London Welsh RFC
WON 69-13
Feb 14th Wales v England  13.00  Taffs Wells RFC, Cardiff
LOST 16-15
Feb 27th  Ireland v England  18.30  St. Mary’s RFC, Dublin
March 15th  England v France 13.30   London Welsh RFC
March 21st  England v Scotland  13.30  London Welsh RFC