Two uncapped additions
These are the 30 Red Roses who will fly to Vancouver for the 2024 WXV1 tournament:
Sarah Bern, Hannah Botterman, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Amy Cokayne, Lark Atkin-Davies, Connie Powell, Maud Muir, Zoe Aldcroft, Rosie Galligan, Lilli Ives Campion, Abbie Ward, Georgia Brock, Maddie Feaunati, Alex Matthews, Marlie Packer, Morwenna Talling, Natasha Hunt, Lucy Packer, Ella Wyrwas, Holly Aitchison, Zoe Harrison, Tatyana Heard, *Phoebe Murray, Emily Scarratt, Jess Breach, Abby Dow, *Bo Westcombe-Evans, Helena Rowland and Ellie Kildunne.
* uncapped
Talk about squeezing a quart into a pint pot!
John Mitchell has added two vice captains to the leadership group: Mo Hunt and Zoe Aldcroft, but the party won’t be lacking in experience. The total number of caps will far exceed any other competing nation’s.
Only two centurions in the party, Emily Scarratt and Marlie Packer. Not so long ago England could boast four!
It’s the sensible 17-13 split between forwards and backs. Just two uncapped players have been included: Phoebe Murray and Bo Westcombe-Evans. Others with minimal onfield experience are Lilli Ives Campion and Georgia Brock. Congratulations to all four.
Murray is the stand-out choice: it’s six long years since she captained the Under 20s side that remained unbeaten on tour in North America. She might have thought her chance had vanished, though she goes on playing admirably for Bristol Bears. Meg Jones’ absence helped her cause.
Once more it’s a relief to see all nine PWR clubs represented, though the two who finished eighth and ninth last season, Sale Sharks and Leicester Tigers, can claim only one each.
Some Background
By my unofficial calculations, no fewer than 49 players were called up for one or more of the summer training sessions. They were:
Sarah Bern, Hannah Botterman, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Liz Crake, Laura Keates, Maud Muir, Simi Pam, Lark Atkin-Davies, May Campbell, Amy Cokayne, Zoe Aldcroft, Rosie Galligan, Lilli Ives Campion, Cath O’Donnell, Abbie Ward, Maisy Allen, Georgia Brock, Poppy Cleall, Steph Else, Maddie Feaunati, Alex Matthews, Marlie Packer, Morwenna Talling, Natasha Hunt, Lucy Packer, Ella Wyrwas, Holly Aitchison, Zoe Harrison, Tatyana Heard, Nancy McGillivray, Phoebe Murray, Emily Scarratt, Jess Breach, Katie Buchanan, Abby Dow, Emma Sing, Bo Westcombe-Evans, Sarah McKenna, Helena Rowland, Sadia Kabeya, Megan Jones, Ellie Kildunne, Vicky Laflin, Brooke Bradley, Pip Hendy, Delaney Burns, Gabriella Nigrelli and Connie Powell.
That meant excluding nineteen players from the final choice. Of them only Laura Keates, Poppy Cleall and Sarah McKenna are multi-capped.
That complete list includes some who were probably introduced more as temporary replacements for others unable to attend, but gave the management the chance to compare performances and assess future prospects for advancement.
It was sad but almost inevitable that some players were lost to injury along the route. Cath O’Donnell, Meg Jones and Sadia Kabeya have had to be left at home.
Ongoing Policy
What we can’t yet guess is who will be selected to play in the three matches. Winning every game is priority number one, but how far will he be willing to spread his favours? Can every player on the plane be sure of getting at least one outing?
The obvious time for experiment is the opening match against the Eagles, but the management may feel the urge to give their first-choice players a run-out before they take on the most fearsome opposition, New Zealand and Canada.
For each match there will be three categories: the starting XV, the bench eight and seven left to wonder. It’s an unavoidable limitation of WXV structures that each team has only three games.
It’s ten days to opening night.
