More unfortunate withdrawals
Two of England’s injured players have now been confirmed as unable to make the trip to New Zealand. They are Lucy Packer and Sadia Kabeya. Their replacements are Daisy Hibbert-Jones who is uncapped, and Emma Sing, who has earned five caps over the past two seasons.
While DH-J is a direct replacement for Kabeya in the back row, Sing is a full-back, not a scrum- half.
The Rear Areas
Some observers had expressed surprise at her omission from the original squad, but the selectors must have felt that there was sufficient cover for the No 15 shirt. Beyond Ellie Kildunne, the first choice, Helena Rowland and Abby Dow had played there at international level, while Quins had used Jess Breach there on occasion. It may have been held against Sing that she had little or no experience of playing elsewhere among the backs. Her inclusion now means that selectors can hope to keep other important backs in their prime positions, not least Rowland.
Louis Deacon expressed his wish to let her settle into one position, the all-important No 13, vacated by the absent Emily Scaratt. Versatility is one thing, but the greatest teams have tended to stick to the tried and trusted. The Red Roses have more outstanding backs than can be accommodated in one team, but it must be best for them to have a settled line-up, especially in midfield.
As for Packer’s replacement: the squad already had two scrum-halves included alongside her, Mo Hunt and the relative newcomer Ella Wyrwas. With Claudia MacDonald able to revert to her former position of No 9, as she did when Packer’s injury forced her off against Canada, that meant four potential candidates for one position in a total of only 13 backs. The management have opted for quality rather than like-for-like.
The only upside of the many non-availabilities is, it makes the final choices a touch simpler. Without Scarratt at 13 and Zoe Harrison at 10, we can assume those two positions are the property of Rowland and Holly Aitchison. That leaves the No 12 slot up for grabs.
Tatyana Heard seemed to have it sewn up after a series of positive performances. But now Amber Reed has reminded everyone how she came to gain 66 caps. She played so well against Canada at the StoneX that she was named Player of the Match.
The Front Line
The choices in the back-row now look like this:
Alex Matthews, Daisy Hibbert-Jones, Maisy Allen, Marlie Packer, Morwenna Talling, Sarah Beckett and Zoe Aldcroft.
There are lots of ifs and buts in that assortment. Like Kabeya, Matthews was an injury worry at the first announcement. Both DH-J and Allen are at the start of their international careers. The list includes both the captain and one of the two co-vice-captains, so we can assume they will be first choices for all three rounds.
I repeat my suspicion that managements will want to play their best squad in every round; the only exception being where they can expect a straightforward win. In England’s case, that would mean delaying putting that best team out till the second round. Taking on France with some players treading Kiwi soil for the first time would be most unwise.
Silver Linings
It’s hard to play down the disappointment the two absent players are suffering. All we can say is that the gap between WXVs is precisely one year. With World Cups it’s a lifetime’s four years.
