South Africa remains the lone winless team at the 2009 Women’s Nations Cup and will face a tough challenge coming up against heavy tournament favorites England on Wednesday.
England have released their lineup for the game and it appears they are taking the opportunity to make a couple of positional changes, testing a few players in unfamiliar spots under the pressure situation of an international test.
Aside from when France scored first in their game, the 2008 Women’s Nations Cup champions have yet to be really challenged this tournament.
Because of the global weight of the match, second year England head coach Gary Street says his side is expecting a challenge.
“Though they [South Africa] haven’t won yet this tournament, they’ve come on massively since the last World Cup and made huge strides. It’s their last match of the tourney so they will have added motivation. England-South Africa has always been a big match in terms of world rugby, and our side has been training and preparing consistently all week.”
By beating South Africa on Monday, the USA won their first international match since the 2006 World Cup, giving them a momentum that Canada hopes to nullify on Wednesday when the two sides face each other in the day’s late game.
The North American rivalry was last ignited in July in a Can-Am series that saw Canada victorious in both an ‘A’ match and a full test match against their compatriots.
Wednesday’s meeting promises to be a heated one, as both countries will be represented by their full sides. Canada has transitioned well from Monday’s narrow loss to France, learning from the match and applying the experience in today’s training sessions.
Regular Canada captain Leslie Cripps has been assigned to the bench after playing 160 minutes of international rugby in three days, her captaincy passed on to clever centre Sarah Ulmer for the game. Cripps, who plays alongside Ulmer for the Saracens as well as Canada, has full confidence in her teammate.
“Ulmer is a great leader on the team, even if she’s not in a captain role. She has a great knowledge of the game and all of her teammates, whether international or club, have the most respect for her. Her experience and game smarts provide a calming aspect to what could be a very intense match.”
With a 7’s World Cup under her belt, backrow Kelly Russell will be vice captain on Wednesday, and will provide quality leadership well above her years.
Both matches will be played at Oakville’s Appleby College and will be the last ones played at the hospitable private school before the Nations Cup changes venue to Fletcher’s Field on Sunday for the final matches. England and South Africa will kick off first on Wednesday at 2pm, followed by Canada and USA at 4pm.
Canada’s 22-man roster for USA game:
1. Kim Donaldson (Burnaby Lake)
2. Ashley MacDonald (Lethbridge RFC)
3. Marlene Donaldson (Velox Valkyries)
4. Marie-Eve Brindamour-Carignan (Town of Mount Royal RFC)
5. Paige Burdett (Calgary Irish)
6. Kelly Russell (Toronto Nomads)
7. Heather Jaques (Capilano RFC)
8. Barbara Mervin (Velox Valkyries)
9. Julia Sugawara (Burnaby Lake)
10. Anna Schnell (Burnaby Lake)
11. Tara Eckert (Calgary Irish)
12. Stevi Schnoor (United RFC London)
13. Sarah Ulmer (Saracens)
14. Brittany Waters (Meraloma)
15. Cheryl Phillips (Toronto Scottish)
Reserves:
16. Leslie Cripps (London Saracens)
17. Lesley McKenzie (UBCOB Ravens)
18. Danielle Rowlands (Calgary Irish)
19. Megan Gibbs (Irish Canadians)
20. Maria Gallo (Burnaby Lake)
21. Laura Stoughton (Calgary Irish)
22. Juilianne Zussman (Town of Mount Royal RFC
