England Women's team to face South Africa in Nations Cup
Wasps prop Claire Purdy will captain England in their second Nations Cup clash, against South Africa on Friday evening, kick off 1030pm BST, at Appleby College, Ontario, Canada.
Head Coach Gary Street has made wide-spread changes to the team that defeated the USA 15-11 on Tuesday, which sees only Becky Essex, Kay Wilson, Alice Richardson and Joanne McGilchrist start a second successive game.
Richardson, who moves from the centre to fly-half, has also been handed the vice-captaincy armband while Sarah McKenna, Jenny Brightmore and Natasha Hunt earn their first ever starts for England after making their debuts off the bench on Tuesday. Bristol’s Marlie Packer will also start her second ever game for England after a late call-up to England’s Nations Cup squad following an injury to Jane Leonard.
“This game is the ideal opportunity to give everyone in the squad a start after a close fought game against USA,” said Street, whose side are the defending Nations Cup champions. “We are looking to improve on our performance against a South African team who will also be aiming to build on their 52-17 defeat to Canada earlier this week.
“We will also be starting Marlie Packer who has replaced the injured Jane Leonard. Although we are all deeply disappointed in losing Jane this is a great opportunity for Marlie who was here three years ago when the England Under 20s team won the Nations Cup.
“There were some pleasing performances from the six new caps on Tuesday and this game against South Africa gives us another opportunity to see more of them at international level.”
