Giselle Mather has dropped a sizeable bomb by announcing the move of Kate Zackary, the USA captain, from Exeter Chiefs to Trailfinders.
This adds mightily to the strength of the squad she is gathering. Quite apart from past and present Red Roses like Abi Burton, Abby Dow, Amy Wilson Hardy, Ellie Boatman, Emma Uren, Liz Crake and Rowena Burnfield, she has gathered in overseas internationals like Elisa Riffonneau (France), Sara Seye (Italy), Julia Schell (Canada), Kie Tamai (Japan) and Lindelwa Gwala (South Africa).
Mather was just able to contain her emotions at the Meet and Greet in Ealing on Wednesday. Neither she nor the team members who turned out to say hello let any hint drop of the big news.
One fascinating detail will be whether Zackary is offered the No 13 shirt – as with the Eagles and the Chiefs – or reverts to her earlier position of No 8. My present guess would certainly be for the latter option.
Already we can sense severe competition for starting slots; they are a sure sign of the quality of all the leading clubs. The downside thst confronts the selectors is how to satisfy the desire of all those top players for regular employment. Sitting patiently on the bench is a lesson learned the hard way.
Over the past season or two we have seen big names leaving a successful club for a new location. They rarely give explicit reasons, but uncertainty about a starting place must be amongst them.
Competition in the brand-new PWR has tightened another notch.
Our anticipation has to wait. First comes the WXV to whet our appetite.
