A Aitchison’s Surprise move
Holly Aitchison’s decision to move from Bristol Bears to Sale Sharks comes out of the blue. But her reasoning makes it as clear as her departure from Saracens.
She left StoneX to be sure of a starting chance at No 10. Her place had been blocked by Zoe Harrison. The switch paid off: she has been the first-choice fly-half for England under John Mitchell.
Now she wants to return to her roots oop north. Her career started at Waterloo, no longer among the elite clubs. She will join Amy Cokayne, Charlotte Fray, Morwenna Talling, Beatrice Rigoni, Erica Jarrell, Georgie Perris-Redding, Jo Brown, Lizzie Duffy, Olivia Ortiz, Sofia Stefan and Tysh Harper; enough to make Sharks’ prospects look really bright.
Aitchison becomes another player to represent four elite clubs. Can Hannah Botterman be far behind?
B Trailfinders
TF have been strengthening their squad in similar fashion. Fran McGhie (Scotland) and Claire Gallagher (Canada) join Meg Jones in leaving Leicester Tigers for a move south. With only a half- smile, we then ask whether they can find a place in a starting Fifteen? Barney Maddison may not find that amusing, but he has tricky selections ahead of him. And we still can’t be sure how the changed structure of GB 7s will affect players.
If Emma Uren, Ellie Boatman and Amy Wilson-Hardy all decided to switch back to 15s, he will have an excess of riches. The one ongoing doubt is where PWR will pitch the limit of NEQPs. TF have a galaxy of Canadian and Scottish players on their books, let alone Carys Cox (Wales), Grace Moore (Ireland) and a clutch of American Eagles.
C The PWR has presented its Team of the Season:
1 Hope Rogers, Exeter Chiefs
2 Amy Cokayne, Leicester Tigers
3 Sarah Bern, Bristol Bears
4 Sarah Beckett, Gloucester-Hartpury
5 Abbie Ward, Bristol Bears
6 Nicole Wythe, Harlequins
7 Abi Burton, Trailfinders
8 Rownita Marston-Mulhearn, Bristol Bears
9 Natasha Hunt, Gloucester-Hartpury
10 Holly Aitchison, Bristol Bears
11 Krissy Scurfield, Loughborough Lightning
12 Alev Kelter, Loughborough Lightning
13 Meg Jones, Leicester Tigers
14 Mia Venner, Gloucester-Hartpury
15 Emma Sing, Gloucester-Hartpury
This was not a fans’ choice. Instead, Oval Insights brought their scientific approach to bear. If we can believe it, they studied and graded every moment of the season to help decide the members of this select Fifteen.
So there’s no point in our bleating ‘why isn’t X included?’ Only science counts. Many congratulations to Nicole Wythe on becoming the only non-international to find favour. No 6 is often considered the least noticed position on the field. The great Richard Hill was a prime example from a past generation.
It’s fascinating to see so many Red Roses present here, who cannot be sure of a place in the squad for the World Cup. Sarah Beckett has already been excluded.
This approach brings its own brand of twisted humour. The mighty Saracens are entirely excluded; Quins get in only thanks to Wythe’s efforts. Sale, who I praised higher up, are missing too.
D Murrayfield; snow or sunburn?
It’s excellent news that the SRU has taken the plunge and agreed to stage the next Scotland- England match at Murrayfield. Till now they have been using the Hive Stadium, immediately in its shade, and formerly the modest home of Murrayfield Wanderers. This won’t be the first such encounter to be held there.
The previous one will have stuck in the memory of everyone present on the day (and they were few enough in the middle of Covid). Storm Ciara came to visit the Scottish lowlands that weekend, bad enough to cancel the original game, set for Scotstoun in western Glasgow. By some minor miracle the fixture was re-arranged for Murrayfield the very next day, a Monday.
The game started in bright sunshine behind closed doors, but finished in the middle of a snowstorm. The English management showed forethought, providing their players with hot-water bottles and other comforters during the breaks. Abby Dow scored one of her more memorable tries, and there have been quite a few.
Perhaps the referees’ committee will show pity on Ciara Munarini, who had to suffer those condtions as referee. A second appearance there with a temperature around 22 degrees would be a fitting reward.
How large a crowd could the match attract? The capacity at The Hive is 7,800, and that has now been reached. But a jump to 67,000 at Murrayfield presents a challange. Scotland can look to Wales; when they turned to the Principality Stadium, the gate shot up to over 20,000.
