‘Scarratt will need time to get back up to speed with England’
ENGLAND centre Emily Scarratt needs more time to get up to speed with the international game, her former team-mate Katy DaleyMcLean has admitted.
Leicester-born Scarratt, 34, returned to rugby in February following neck surgery and on Sunday played her first England match since the World Cup final in 2022.
Scarratt, the World Player of the Year in 2019, has only played a handful games for Loughborough Lightning since recovering from disc replacement surgery.
But she made a series of errors in England’s 48-0 Women’s Six Nations win over Italy and was replaced after 51 minutes.
“The pace of the game was different. It was a bit quicker. She’s a very talented rugby player but she will be disappointed with some of her moments,” Daley-McLean told the BBC’s Rugby Union Daily podcast.
“There was a pass she threw forward straight into touch, a kick she put out.
“She hasn’t been in camp training as much as the rest of the girls.
“These are all things you’ve got to take into account.”
Red Roses head coach John Mitchell played Scarratt at inside centre instead of outside centre, where she has won the majority of her 109 caps.
Mitchell also paired Scarratt with Loughborough team-mate Helena Rowland in a new-look centre partnership, while fly-half Zoe Harrison returned after a knee injury ruled her out of the 2023 international season.
England’s attack looked slicker after Holly Aitchison came on for Scarratt and Natasha Hunt took over from Lucy Packer at scrumhalf, although Italy’s players had started to tire.
Aitchison also took on the goalkicking duties from the struggling Harrison as 14-player England ran in eight tries in Parma.
“I think at the moment we’ve got to give them a bit of time to find their feet again,” said Daley-McLean.
Former England flanker Maggie Alphonsi said Scarratt was “not a typical 12” and offered something different.
“I guess what Mitchell wants is a variety of options so we have different attacking plays,” said Alphonsi.
“That makes England a little bit more unpredictable.”