England Red Roses

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Thought I'd create thread for England women team.

One bit of (bad) news is Sarah Bern out of 6N with knee injury. Despite the strength in depth England have that is a massive blow as she is a superb player. Not only brilliant in scrum but devestating with ball in hand running through and around opposition.

England no doubt again be strong favourites again but I'm hoping other 6N teams are on up.

It was also good to see Emily Scarratt back to something like her best form - the last few tries were a direct result of her ability to get the ball into space quickly.

I thought the Irish tackling was pretty effective for long periods of the game - England were making less progress ball in hand than in the earlier games of the series. But the threat up the middle was enough to keep the Irish defence a little bit narrow, and once the ball got to th outside channels, England had a lot of 3 on 2s and made most of their yards and a fair number of tries that way.

Kildunne was a huge part of that. We were in the North Lower, behind the posts, and it was very visible how often she was sweeping from side to side of the pitch to create the overlap.

I was lucky enough to be there. Twickenham had a bit of a party atmosphere it has to be said. Fantastic performances from Mo Hunt, Breach, Dow, the irrepressible Kildunne, Meg Jones - I could go on.

The team "clicked" today. Which is a frightening prospect for any opponents.

Special mention to Morwenna Talling, who wasn't expecting to start then did the full 80, and Emily Scarratt, who was sublime when she came on.

An amazing day out.

Scarratt was excellent, after an iffy game against Italy by her high standards she was back to best. Passing, kicking and identifying best option.

Thats three of us there then we were in the West Stand high up just about central.

The thing that stood out for be was that the Irish seem to having.been watching the games of a couple of years ago, then it you kicked deep and tight and gave her a bit of room Abbie Dow would penalise you big time, now it is Ellie Kildunne, if you kick deep and central it gives her time to look up and see where the defence is standing and shee has the pace and skills to just waltz through a defence. They didn't learn and just kept feeding her.

There was a time when we replaced teh front row that Ireland managed to get on top for a short while and won a couple of penalties, but other than thet breif spell they were under the cosh most of the game, Matthews really came into it in the last twenty, plenty of hard driving runs gaining a lot of ground.

Abbie Dow seems to have put some muscle on, she seems stockier than she was last year, it makes a massive difference to her game, as she is now taking defenders with her when tackled and making ground whilst giving her team mates a better chance of getting to the breakdown in numbers.

I felt sorry for the guy sitting in front of us, he was (probably still is) Irish and his partner English, she was giving him stick all the game, well until the score got into the 60's when I think she started to feel sorry for him.

Bring on France, it could be a classic.

Both Rosie Galligan and Lark Atkin-Davies are confirmed as out of the game against France.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cv2xvxpxlqno

Not really a surprise, as Lark looked in some discomfort after hurting an ankle whilst Rosie had her arm in a sling. Still, Amy Cokayne and Abbie Ward are not exactly poor replacements.

Mr Bounce wrote:Both Rosie Galligan and Lark Atkin-Davies are confirmed as out of the game against France.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cv2xvxpxlqno

Not really a surprise, as Lark looked in some discomfort after hurting an ankle whilst Rosie had her arm in a sling. Still, Amy Cokayne and Abbie Ward are not exactly poor replacements.

That's the other really impressive thing about England - in most positions there's genuine competition between two or even three top class players and Mitchell can adapt easily to replace injuries or adapt to different tactical goals.

Kildunne is probably the least replaceable right now - but even there Breach plays fullback for Sarries (one of the reasons she moved) so there's cover.

You know that the squad is great when Poppy Cleall can't get a look in.

Emma Sing is another option for Full Back, and again, can't get into the 23 due to the ridiculous amount of strength in depth. What a position for Mitchell to be in...

You know that the squad is great when Poppy Cleall can't get a look in

It is remarkable as last couple years she was the standout forward, better 8 than Hunter I always thought.
Sarah Beckett available after ban so I'd think she should be in contention.

Not seen team announced for Saturday, usually done by now?

mountain man wrote:Not seen team announced for Saturday, usually done by now?

Nothing yet, maybe 4.30? Here's the French team:

Emilie Boulard; Joanna Grisez, Nassira Konde, Gabrielle Vernier, Marine Ménager; Lina Queyroi, Pauline Bourdon Sansus; Annaëlle Deshaye, Agathe Sochat, Assia Khalfaoui, Manae Feleu (capt), Madoussou Fall, Charlotte Escudero, Gaëlle Hermet, Romane Ménager.

Team up now:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cpdg4kjj3gvo

France are making a game of it, but England are getting the upper hand up front and I suspect that will be decisive.

In other news, Wales can feel the spoon in their hand again... Can they manage the double?

Great game, France tested England but Red Roses just too good. Clear red card for France.
England won through forwards as they needed to as opposed to previous games when backs could dominate.

France performance in the 2nd half when down to 14 was really very good. I thought they would tire as the 2nd half wore on but they didn't.

Hard test for England, for a change, but a comfortable win in the end.

One thing that's being debated a lot post tournament is England's discipline. 2 reds, 6 cards overall and the highest penalty count in the tournament, and yet John Mitchell is very relaxed about it... why?

I think it's because he has asked the players to play on the edge so that they can get more experience of playing when under pressure. He identified as one of the issues they had in RWC21 that they weren't used to having the odds stacked against them and went into their shells when they got the red against NZ.

He's comfortable with them getting cards in this tournament because he wanted them to practice playing with someone in the bin. And I believe they matched or outscored the opposition in every period where they were a player down.

They are likely to keep playing that way through WXV1, and tighten up the discipline over next season preparatory to RWC25. It's nice when you have the luxury of being able to give yourself disadvantages and still winning...

In other news, Ellie Kildunne was not only the top try scorer, but the top points scorer overall - which is remarkable. It's hard to imagine another tournament where a non-kicker could come out ahead of the kickers like that.

Mitchell absolutely right, England playing on the edge to get the edge. None of the cards was malicious or intentional plus they were always going to win. It's refreshing to see a coach being honest and not go down the route of being apologetic to appease media.

Possibly be a different matter if lost a player against France or they do against NZ.

As it happens I thought red card for France was worse than any England had. However, that also was not intentional.

Same for all teams though men or women, an early red in a close game usually means losing.

Good news for RWC 2025, the select matches shown on tv as opposed to iPlayer would I assume be England.

However, all matches being show is excellent news.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/articles/cy0rq18889po

In other news, Ellie Kildunne is back training with the Red Roses, but Meg Jones is out long term with a broken ankle requiring surgery.

Meg Jones a big blow as she was a standout in 2023-2024 season. Hopefully back fit and in form for RWC.

mountain man wrote:Meg Jones a big blow as she was a standout in 2023-2024 season. Hopefully back fit and in form for RWC.

She is. That said, last season you could have drawn up an "England Long Term Injured XV" who would have been strong contenders to win both the 6N and WXV had they been able to take the field.

Fortunately England have a number of players who could replace her - not least Emily Scarratt

Not about the England Women, but a great outcome for Women's Rugby:  Ilona Maher, USA Women's Rugby 7s player earns a cover shoot for Sports Illustrated, Americas top sport periodical.  Considering where Rugby ranks in popularity in America, this is huge.  She also has 4 million Instagram followers.
 
Article about Ilona

Red Roses play France on Saturday 7th Sept, live on BBC 1 15:30.

mountain man wrote:Red Roses play France on Saturday 7th Sept, live on BBC 1 15:30.

I will be there.

In answer to the lack of Meg Jones, there's also Helena Rowland, who I think is one of our very best players. However, the question is where to play her, as she's featured at 10,12,13 and 15 for the Roses, and was pretty good in all those positions.

Rowland is one of best players in squad and if fit has to start for me. Versatile for sure but 13 is a good position for her. I think Scarratt whilst an icon of Red Roses rugby isn't quite the player she was in past so if Rowland in at 13 that would be good.

Rowland to start at 13, Scaz on the bench would work for me. If needed Rowland could cover 10, so Scaz could be 22 or 23 depending on what positions Mitchell wants covered.

Bear in mind that Scaz was coming back from a year out and dropped straight into an international in an unfamiliar position. It was noticeable that in her later games she was a lot more fluid, and her distribution directly created multiple tries.

She's a different kind of threat from Jones, but still a very good player. She'd walk into any team in the world that didn't play in black or white.

And don't forget that there are players like Lagi Tuima, who don't even get a look in to the squad these days but are still in a similar class. England are a bit spolit for choice - though I am a little worried about the quality of the props coming through U20 based on their performance over the summer.

I wonder if we'll get a Rowland-Scarratt 12-13 axis with them regularly swapping as required?

Bit harsh on Tatiana Heard who has been great, but what an interesting and talented pair.

Mr Bounce wrote:I wonder if we'll get a Rowland-Scarratt 12-13 axis with them regularly swapping as required?

Bit harsh on Tatiana Heard who has been great, but what an interesting and talented pair.

Unless one of the uncapped players has a stormer in training, I'd expect all three to be in the XXIII, so any combo is possible. But I'd also expect Heard to start; 12 is her natural position, whereas Rowland and Scaz are both more commonly seen at 13.