England’s squad to face Scotland at Bristol looks like this:
15 ROWLAND 14 DOW 13 JONES 12 HEARD 11 BREACH 10 AITCHISON 9 HUNT 1 CLIFFORD 2 COKAYNE 3 MUIR 4 TALLING 5 GALLIGAN 6 ALDCROFT (captain) 7 KABEYA 8 MATTHEWS
16 ATKIN-DAVIES 17 CARSON 18 BERN 19 WARD 20 FEAUNATI 21 L. PACKER 22 HARRISON 23 SING
It’s still a guessing-game who will find favour in any future round, but Holly Aitchison’s selection at 10 confirms my view of one of Mitchell’s preferences.
In the regretted but expected absence of Hannah Botterman and Ellie Kildunne, Kelsey Clifford and Helena Rowland (the maid of all work) get the nod over Mackenzie Carson and Emma Sing. It will be interesting to see how Sing gets on if needed either at centre or wing.
England are the firm favourites for this quarter-final; they hardly need the bonus of having Aurelie Groizeleau as referee. Even when Covid 19 forced her to take a France-England match in France, she couldn’t provide a home winner.
The clearest of home bankers.
There will be Bristol Bears players on both sides – so that’s fair.
Let’s hope the stadium curator has found a better way of masking football markings than he has in the past; his colleagues at other grounds have shown it is possible.
Details
Date: Sunday 14 September
KO: 16.00 BST
Venue: Ashton Gate Bristol
Referee: Aurelie Groizeleau (FFR)
