Source: David Howlett

The Allianz Premier 15s Team of the Season

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This was a fascinating but curious affair.

Four candidates for each position were selected by the administrators, though they failed to allow for important distinctions: for example loose-head and tight head; blind-side and open-side. Players frequently swapped positions during the season. As postings followed one by one, we could be excused for being baffled in our choice-making.

Then how did we make our choice? Possibilities:

  1. Club loyalty – the bigger the club, the more votes?
  2. Familiarity – ‘who’s she?’
  3. How many games did she play?
  4. How many games did we see?
  5. What position did she play in? – Liz Crake holds the record, all three rows of the scrum
  6. ‘Saw her on the telly’
  7. Sticking a pin in

The candidates (winners in bold)                                                                  Club

15 Abbie Brown; Ellie Kildunne; Emily Scott; Sarah McKenna                   LL WA Q SA
14 Jess Breach; Lisa Neumann; Paige Farries; Rhona Lloyd                         Q SS WW LL
13 Emily Scarratt; Hannah Jones; Jade Shekells; Lagi Tuima                      LL GH WW Q
12 Holly Aitchison; Kate Alder; Rachael Burford; Gabby Cantorna              SA WA Q EC
11 Abby Dow; Ellie Underwood; Jasmine Joyce; Lotte Clapp                         WA GH BB SA
10 Helena Rowland; Katy Daley-Mclean; Megan Jones; Zoe Harrison       LL SS WA SA
9 Caity Mattinson; Claudia Macdonald; Leanne Riley; Natasha Hunt        WW WA Q GH
1 Maud Muir; Rochelle Clark; Shaunagh Brown; Simi Pam                          WA SA Q BB
2 Amy Cokayne; Cliodhna Moloney; Lark Davies; May Campbell                 Q WA LL SA
3 Sachiko Kato; Liz Crake; Detysha Harper; Vickii Cornborough                  EC WA LL Q
4 Abbie Ward; Abby Duguid; Poppy Leitch; Zoe Aldcroft                                Q EC LL GH
5 Fiona Fletcher; McKinley Hunt; Rowena Burnfield; Sophie de Goede      Q EC WA SA
6 Alex Matthews; Georgia Evans; Rachel Malcolm; Sadia Kabeya                 WW SA LL WA
7 Claire Molloy; Emily Robinson; Kate Zackary; Marlie Packer                       WA EC EC SA
8 Harriet Millar-Mills; Linde van der Linden; Poppy Cleall; Sarah Hunter    WA EC SA LL

This is a breakdown of the clubs represented:

Bristol Bears                           2
DMP Durham Sharks           0
Exeter Chiefs                          7
Gloucester-Hartpury            4
Harlequins                              9
Loughborough Lightning   10
Sale Sharks                              2
Saracens                                 10
Wasps                                      12
Worcester Warriors               4

and the nations:

Canada          4
Ireland          2
Japan             1
Netherlands  1
Scotland         2
USA                 2
Wales              4

That leaves 44 English qualified.

and the percentages:

The percentages gained by each player are misleading. When Abbie Ward is pitted directly against Zoe Aldcroft, neither is going to get close to 100% support. Then the question is, why place then in the same quartet? Simon Middleton certainly wouldn’t. The eight locks might have been grouped differently.
One of the lock choices brought the tightest margin: 0.1% between Sophie de Goede and Fi Fletcher.

The Winning Team

15 Ellie Kildunne
14 Rhona Lloyd
13 Jade Shekells
12 Kate Alder
11 Abby Dow
10 Megan Jones
9 Natasha Hunt
1 Rochelle Clark
2 Amy Cokayne
3 Sachiko Kato
4 Abbie Ward
5 Sophie de Goede
6 Georgia Evans
7 Marlie Packer
8 Poppy Cleall

It’s delightful to see names included here that didn’t figure prominently on the internationl scene. That makes the operation all the more valuable.

Now it’s my job to pick a team to beat them by 20 points. Should be easy. But I’ll have a word with Simon Middleton MBE first, just to be sure.

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