John Mitchell has announced the names of 38 players to start training up for the Six Nations.
Shakespeare tended to opt for five acts to complete his dramas. If this list represents a prologue, there will be many more acts to come before we reach the climax.
Yesterday we had news of a new captain. Now we have the results of the management’s response to performances in the PWR. The established actors merely had to prove they were still playing as well as ever.
Just four newcomers have found favour: Reneeqa Bonner, Abi Burton, Fran Goldthorp and Flo Robinson. Congratulations to them. They have come through a very congested field.
Bonner is one of a host of highly talented wingers who have been earning glowing publicity since October. We’ll never know how many of the others came into the final stretch still with a chance, but there must have been plenty.
Abi Burton presents a different case. She made her mark in Sevens, then suffered unspeakable health trials: 25 days in induced coma and two bouts of pneumonia. We may truly term that a triumph of mind over matter.
Flo Robinson was one of two players (the other Merryn Doidge) whose England debut was cut off before it started when the lights infamously went out in a friendly against France in Lille. The pair were on the point of moving from bench to field. In another hotly contested position, No 9, Robinson has done exceptionally well to get the nod. Will she gain that longed-for cap?
Fran Goldthorp’s back-story is exotically different. She hails from Leeds, which lies a distance north of the Trent, an area now almost completely deserted by the PWR. Her path into the England squad has taken several unlikely turns: first in Rugby League with Leeds Rhinos, then in Australia with North Queensland Cowboys. Wrapped in amongst were two stays at Loughborough, whom she now represents. She’s listed as a centre, though Nathan Smith has placed her at 15 recently, Scarratt and Alev Kelter blocking her path.
Each of these additions has to mean disappointment for others; for example Robinson displaces Ella Wyrwas as the third-choice scrum-half, and Goldthorp Phoebe Murray in the centre.
That’s where the management remind everyone that final decisions lie way ahead in time. No-one is excluded from consideration.
But if Mitchell repeats last year’s policy we won’t see a gradual fining down in the squad. Others may be added and even overlooked again.
Pick any XV you like, and you’ll be left with another side you’d fancy could see off any team the Martians care to send over. With the two centurions retained, the number of caps exceeds 1200. Nine players have passed the half-century, with Kildunne next in line. If selected, as they say.
A reminder of the list:
Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears, 35 caps)
Zoe Aldcroft (captain, Gloucester-Hartpury, 58 caps) Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)
Sarah Beckett (Gloucester-Hartpury, 35 caps)
Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 66 caps)
*Reneeqa Bonner (Bristol Bears)
Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears, 51 caps)
Jess Breach (Saracens, 43 caps)
Georgia Brock (Gloucester-Hartpury, 2 caps)
*Abi Burton (Trailfinders Women)
Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury, 21 caps)
Kelsey Clifford (Saracens, 9 caps)
Amy Cokayne (Leicester Tigers, 79 caps)
Abby Dow (Trailfinders Women, 48 caps)
Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs, 10 caps)
Rosie Galligan (Saracens, 19 caps)
*Fran Goldthorp (Loughborough Lightning)
Lizzie Hanlon (Harlequins, 1 cap)
Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 54 caps)
Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 26 caps)
Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury, 76 caps)
Lilli Ives Campion (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap)
Megan Jones (Leicester Tigers, 21 caps)
Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning, 18 caps)
Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 48 caps)
Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs, 32 caps)
Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury, 72 caps)
Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury, 35 caps)
Lucy Packer (Harlequins, 26 caps)
Marlie Packer (Saracens, 108 caps)
Connie Powell (Harlequins, 19 caps)
*Flo Robinson (Exeter Chiefs)
Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 34 caps)
Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning, 116 caps)
Emma Sing (Gloucester-Hartpury, 6 caps)
Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks, 18 caps)
Mia Venner (Gloucester-Hartpury, 1 cap)
Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 69 caps)
*uncapped
The make-up
The list contains six props, three hookers, five locks, seven back-rowers, three scrum-halves, two fly-halves, five centres, five wingers and two full-backs – though we may be sure some will perform elsewhere on the park.
Once more club membership mirrors positions in the PWR table to a degree: Glos-Pury 10, Bears 6, Lightning 5, Sarries 5, Quins 4, Chiefs 3, Tigers 2, TF 2, Sharks 1. It’s the imbalance between top and bottom that is most troubling.
