James Cooper has announced the names of 37 Under 18s who will take part in training sessions at Bisham, starting today, Friday 14 February.
Many congratulations to all of them. Full list below.
A reminder: this age-level is now divided into nine areas, termed Player Development Groups (PDGs). Cunningly, each bears the name of a distinguished former Red Rose.
Below the list I add the one feature that disturbs me considerably, the number of players from each PDG. It tells a distressing story; they are way out of balance.
Only one player, Summer Charlesworth, comes from a PDG north of the Trent, and Mansfield is a good distance from the North Pole. So Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire between them muster a single player; and Mansfield is not in any of those seven counties anyway. Betsy Meads hails from Newark, but most of the town lies to the south of the river.
In stark contrast, no fewer than nine players come from the south-west, and seven from the broad sweep of the south.
How are we to account for this extreme disparity? It would be comforting to think it is not the fault of the coaches involved.
Distinguished as the nine name-bearers are, they would mean little to 17 and 18-year-olds, unless they were keen students of the women’s game. Their attraction to the sport must come from other sources.
The North-East PDG carries the name of none other than Sarah Hunter. In 2023 she was appointed by the RFU as Transition and Assistant Coach to the Red Roses. Since then she has added motherhood to her achievements. How could she possibly find the time to inspire girls from her native heath in the north-east to find at least one player worthy of addition to this group?
What has gone wrong in those regions? The position at Under 18 level exactly mirrors the PWR: just one club from north of the Trent, and Sale Sharks sit bottom of the table.
It looks as though the RFU and the PWR board need to take decisive action to redress this imbalance. Small details like the choice of venue for the two World Cup semi-final venues come to mind. Ashton Gate Bristol hosts both. Why? Why a football ground in one corner of the nation rather than the two games spread far and wide, and preferably at rugby grounds?
This is a relatively new and unwelcome trend in English women’s rugby. Recent and currrent Red roses with northern roots include:
Zoe Aldcroft and Ellie Kildunne, both World Players of the Year, Abbie Ward, Cath O’Donnell, Detysha Harper, Holly Aitchison, Katy Daley-Mclean, World Cup winning captain, Morwenna Talling, Sarah Beckett, Sarah Hunter, Tamara Taylor (though born in Devon!).
Meantime, all the best to the players. They have one date on the calendar fixed: against Ireland in Dublin on 30 March. Details not yet confirmed for the U18 Women’s Six Nations Festival in April.
The Squad
Forwards
Tamsin Baynes (Becky Essex PDG, Market Harborough, Loughborough College) *
Chloe Butterworth (Jo Yapp PDG, Worcester, Hereford Sixth Form College)
Alesia De Mello Leitao (Becky Essex PDG, Leicester Forest East, Loughborough College)
Tizi Goss (Nolli Waterman PDG, Winscombe, Clifton High School)
Martha Green (Jo Yapp PDG, Tamworth, Hartpury College)
Alice Gray (Nolli Waterman PDG, Exeter College)
Aisha Jah (Becky Essex PDG, Mansfield, West Notts College) *
Hayley Jones (Emma Mitchell PDG, Ealing Trailfinders, Henley College) *
Grace Keel (Nolli Waterman PDG, North Bristol, SGS College)
Honey Kerslake (Nolli Waterman PDG, Crediton, Exeter College)
Betsy Meads (Becky Essex PDG, Newark, Loughborough College)
Libby Naughton (Emma Mitchell PDG, Chippenham, Hartpury College)
Joy Okechukwu (Rachel Burford PDG, Havant, Peter Symonds College)
Isla Pomroy (Emma Mitchell PDG, City of Oxford College)
Demelza Short (Nolli Waterman PDG, Crediton, Blundells School)
Harli Stanton (Becky Essex PDG, Sandal, Loughborough College)
Jess Taylor (Maggie Alphonsi PDG, Welwyn, Oaklands College)
Isabel van der Straaten (Maggie Alphonsi PDG, Eton Manor, Mossbourne Community Academy) * Maisy Wheeler (Becky Essex PDG, Old Northamptions, Loughborough College)
Ellie Wilson (Jo Yapp PDG, Gosford All Blacks, Hartpury College) * (20)
Backs
Ashton Adcock (Becky Essex PDG, Loughborough College) *
Amelie Bleriot (Maggie Alphonsi PDG, Old Albanians, Richard Hale)
Summer Charlesworth (Helen Clayton PDG, Mansfield, City of Oxford College)
Isabelle Clist (Nolli Waterman PDG, Cullompton, Wellington School)
Katherine Dyke (Nolli Waterman PDG, Winscombe Warriors, Exeter College)
Josephine Harris (Emma Mitchell PDG, Chinnor, City of Oxford College)
Charlotte Heath (Nolli Waterman PDG, Exeter College)
Holly Jackson (Emma Mitchell PDG, Horsham, Cardinal Newman)
Eva Ladyman (Becky Essex PDG, Olney, Loughborough College)
Imogen Mockford (Rachel Burford PDG, Sevenoaks, Maidstone Grammar School for Girls) Lily Pereira dos Santos (Maggie Alphonsi PDG, Finchley, Oakland College)
Alice Redfern (Rachael Burford PDG, Worthing College)
Solana Shaw de Leon (Rachael Burford PDG, Sutton and Epsom, Worthing College) * Hannah Smyth (Jo Yapp PDG, Hartpury College)
Molly Symonds (Emma Mitchell PDG, Trowbridge, Stonar School Sixth Form)
Jo Vosakiwaiwai (Emma Mitchell PDG, City of Oxford College) *
Charlotte Wreford (Nolli Waterman PDG, Exeter College) (17)
*already capped at U18 level
Rugby Football Union Women’s PDG Centres:
North East – Sarah Hunter PDG (Northumberland, Durham, Cumbria)
Yorkshire – Karen Almond PDG (Yorkshire)
North West – Helen Clayton PDG (Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire)
Midlands 1 – Jo Yapp PDG (North Midlands, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire)
Midlands 2 – Becky Essex PDG (Nottinghamshire Lincolnshire Derbyshire, Leicestershire, East Midlands)
Central South & Eastern – Maggie Alphonsi PDG (Middlesex, Essex, Hertfordshire, Eastern Counties)
South East – Rachael Burford PDG (Kent, Surrey, Sussex)
South – Emma Mitchell PDG (Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Dorset & Wiltshire)
South West – Danielle ‘Nolli’ Waterman PDG (Cornwall, Devon, Somerset)
The Allocations:
Almond 0
Alphonsi 4
Burford 4
Clayton 1
Essex 8
Hunter 0
Mitchell 7
Waterman 9
Yapp 4
