Did you guess this squad correctly?
15 Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 16 caps);14 Lydia Thompson (Worcester Warriors, 48 caps); 13 Holly Aitchison (Saracens, 1 cap); 12 Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 7 caps);
11 Abby Dow (Wasps, 19 caps); 10 Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 31 caps); 9 Leanne Infante (vice-captain; Bristol Bears, 45 caps); 1 Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins, 61 caps); 2 Amy Cokayne (Harlequins, 58 caps); 3 Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 37 caps); 4 Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 25 caps); 5 Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 48 caps); 6 Alex Matthews (Worcester Warriors, 42 caps); 7 Marlie Packer (Saracens, 77 caps); 8 Poppy Cleall (captain, Saracens, 48 caps)
Bench:
16 Lark Davies (Loughborough Lightning, 32 caps); 17 Hannah Botterman (Saracens, 23 caps); 18 Maud Muir (Wasps, 1 cap); 19 Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps, 63 caps); 20 Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning, 127 caps); 21 Claudia MacDonald (Wasps, 16 caps)
22 Lagi Tuima (Harlequins, 9 caps); 23 Sarah McKenna (Saracens, 37 caps)
Non-playing reserve: Florence Long (Worcester Warriors, uncapped)
Simon Middleton has brought five different faces (Cokayne, Cornborough, Infante, Matthews and Rowland) into the team for the second test against the Black Ferns, none of them a surprise.
They entail some shifting of positions, the one unexpected call placing Helena Rowland at inside-centre. This is a rare occasion where Zoe Harrison has not been asked to shift away from her preferred slot at No 10 and reflects the quality of her performance at Exeter.
One big move is to nominate Poppy Cleall as captain, a huge honour for her and foreshadowed when she became vice-captain last time round. Leanne Infante is also favoured with a leading role as vice-captain.
We have to be careful about the word ‘dropped’, so Sarah Hunter has been ‘rotated’.
The crucial area of centre is now occupied by two highly skilled Sevens players. This means that tackle-rates are likely to be high, and an eye for the gap assured. But both Rowland and Aitchison will be tested in their positional play. Chances are they will come through with flying colours.
Now for New Zealand
1 Phillipa Love (Canterbury); 2 Grace Houpapa-Barrett; 3 Aleisha Nelson (Auckland); 4 Joanah Ngan-Woo (Wellington); 5 Kelsie Wills (Bay of Plenty); 6 Alana Bremner (Canterbury); 7 Les Elder (captain, Bay of Plenty); 8 Liana Mikaele Tu’u (Auckland); 9 Kendra Cocksedge (vice-captain , Canterbury); 10 Ruahei Demant (Auckland); 11 Ayesha Leti-I’iga (Wellington); 12 Grace Brooker (Canterbury). 13 Stacey Fluhler (Waikato); 14 Portia Woodman (Northland); 15 Cheyelle Robins-Reti (Waikato)
Bench:
16 Te Kura Ngata-Aerengamate (Counties Manukau); 17 Aldora Itunu (Auckland); 18 Amy Rule (Canterbury); 19 Maiakawanakaulani Roos (Auckland); 20 Kennedy Simon (Waikato); 21 Ariana Bayler (Waikato); 22 Patricia Maliepo (Auckland); 23 Carla Hohepa (Waikato)
Glenn Moore makes five changes; two see the disappearance of familiar names, Eloise Blackwell and Renee Wickliffe. In the reverse direction Portia Woodman is restored to health, but sadly not Kelly Brazier. Her continued absence throws weight on to less experienced shoulders.
How stands the wind?
This second rumble leaves many questions open, such as:
How far will the Ferns have advanced in a week?
How far will team changes sort out the set-piece weaknesses?
Will the Ferns have recovered physically well enough to outlast the English this time?
The answer to the third question is likely to be no.
The 12-43 defeat at Sandy Park was a nasty shock to the system for them, but they have been putting the most favourable gloss possible on the experience.
‘The best thing that could happen to us’ is the gist of the thinking, and they lay great emphasis on the large number of debutants employed.
Chelsea Alley makes a telling comparison. For her the pace of the Exeter game stood way beyond anything she had experienced in this year’s Farah Palmer Cup. That is balm to English ears. We can all too easily assume that Kiwi standards are almost permanently out of reach of northern hemisphere players. Not so.
England’s most glaring weakness has been the set-scrum; it wasn’t visible at Sandy Park. Credit must go to Louis Deacon, the new forwards’ coach and the players he and Middleton decided would do the best job. This time a different front row must prove their qualities again.
Now it’s up to Franklin’s Gardens to provide the crackling atmosphere evident at Sandy Park last week.
