England Women’s Under 20s Head Coach Jo Yapp has named her team to take on the Army at Aldershot Army Rugby Stadium on Tuesday February 17, kick off 7pm.
Yapp, who fronts a new coaching line-up for the season with Kevin Moggridge and Elaine Limond named as assistant coaches, has handed Darlington Mowden Park scrum-half Caity Mattinson the captaincy arm-band. Mattinson is joined by Sarah Nicholas, Lark Davies and Abbie Parsons who all played Under 20s rugby last season. Parsons has been named as vice-captain. As well as a new coaching line-up, Yapp has also named 11 players who are new to the Under 20s squad this season in the starting line-up.
Tuesday’s game is the first of three this season for the U20s with England also taking on France home and away over the next two months.
Yapp said: “As is the nature of Under 20s rugby, we start the season with a new looking squad. It is certainly really pleasing to see the likes of Abbie Brown, Sydney Gregson and Amy Cokayne graduate from the U20s programme into the EPS this season and playing Six Nations rugby when they are still all under the age of 20. It shows the development programme is working.”
“I’ll certainly be looking at some of the experienced U20s players to provide guidance for the new squad members but at the same time we already have a strong leadership group with players like Rachel Lund and Lark Davies.”
“Playing the Army is also a really exciting addition to our calendar. In previous seasons, we have usually played France away first off so this will be a great way to get the squad prepared for that fixture against a very experienced and physical Army team. It is certainly a real positive to have this game in our calendar.”
England U20s (Name, Club, CB, Region, AASE)
15 Rachel Lund (Worcester, Yorkshire, Midlands)
14 Matilda Vaughan-Fowler (Bristol, South West)
13 Charlotte Holland (Bath, Devon, South West)
12 Emily Wood (Lichfield, Gloucestershire, South West)
11 Charlotte Clapp (Saracens, South East)
10 Sarah Nicholas (Lichfield, Staffordshire, Midlands)
9 Caity Mattinson (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, Gloucestershire, North) C
1 Abbie Parsons (Bristol, Berkshire, South West) VC
2 Lark Davies (Worcester, North Midlands , Midlands)
3 Amy Cokayne (Lichfield, Midlands)
4 Amy Wigley (Worcester, North Midlands, Midlands)
5 Olivia Jones (Bristol, Oxfordshire , South West)
6 Abigail Walker (Worcester, Gloucestershire, South West)
7 Sarah Bern (Esher, Surrey, South East, Hartpury College)
8 Sally Stott (Vale of Lune, Lancashire, North)
Replacements:
16 May Campbell (Bristol, Hertfordshire, South West)
17 Katie Trevarthen (Camp Hill, Notts, Lincs & Derby, Midlands)
18 Henrietta Burkinshaw (Lichfield, Yorkshire, North)
19 Catherine O’Donnell (Vale of Lune, Cumbria, North)
20 Rebecca Trist (Worcester, Lancashire, South West)
21 Devon Holt (Bristol, Berkshire, South West)
22 Zoe Aldcroft (Hartpury, Yorkshire, North, Hartpury College)
23 Lucy Nye (Lichfield, Devon, South West)
England U20s playing schedule:
England v Army, Tuesday February 17, KO 7pm, Aldershot Army Rugby Stadium
France v England, Saturday February 28, KO 1pm GMT, Stade Sainte-Germaine, Bordeaux
England v France, Saturday February 21, KO 2om, Esher RFC
