Red Roses on alert with signs of renaissance in the Scottish game
‘It is important for the FFR to go to the public and not with everyone having to come to Paris’
Based on recent history, England’s trip to Scotstoun seems a relatively straightforward assignment. It could seem like a foregone conclusion that the defending Grand Slam champions and World Cup finalists and second-highest ranked side in the women’s game would make short work of the side ranked 12th – but it is more complicated than that.
England’s totemic captain and No8 Sarah Hunter is out with a calf injury and classy inside centre Rachael Burford is missing with a knee injury, which will help the Scots immensely.
And even though they lost their opening Six Nations fixtures against Wales and France, Scottish women’s rugby appears to be on the up. Last year’s fourth-place finish after a dismal six-year run of finishing bottom, is seen as the beginning of a renaissance north of the border.
A subplot to the game is that officially there are no full-time professionals amongst the ranks of the Red Roses, with the likes of sevens professionals Emily Scarratt and Natasha Hunt committed fully to the short form of the game. Yet the Scots will start four full-time XVS professionals in the Lille-based trio of No8 Jade Konkel, full-back Chloe Rollie and centre Lisa Thomson and scrum-half Sarah Law of Edinburgh University and Murrayfield Wanderers.
Another boost for the hosts has been players travelling south to play in the Premier15s benefiting from the Rugby Football Union’s £2.4 million investment in the the governing body citing financial implications.
“It’s important for the FFR to go to the public, to where the audience is, and not the other way round with everyone having to come to Paris,” Laporte said.
“The stadium is very big, holding 67,000 people, you can do hospitality, and the population around the stadium is extensive.”
Tonight’s game will be Brunel’s first against his former side, having coached Italy for five years and presided over their most recent victory against France, a 23-18 win back in 2013.
Five changes have been made to league. Four of the starting XV play in England including captain and fly-half Lisa Martin, who will be very familiar with her English opposite number Katy Daleymclean as they are club-mates at Darlington Mowden Park Sharks.
In the absence of Hunter, Daleymclean, who led England to World Cup glory in 2014, assumes the captaincy and she regards Martin as a key threat. “Lisa generally plays 12 at the club, but she is a great carrier of the ball, extremely good defensively and has a good kicking
Leading role: Katy Daley-mclean will captain England side with Sarah Hunter out France’s starting XV, and a further six on the bench, with uncapped scrum-half Baptiste Couilloud, 20, among the replacements. Couilloud’s club team-mate Lionel Beauxis has been retained at flyhalf after winning his first cap in six years against Scotland.
Italy head coach Conor O’shea has reiterated the belief that his side are on the right path by citing the improvements made to his squad’s depth since he took over from Brunel in 2016.
That is despite Italy having lost their past 14 matches in the Six Nations. Matteo Minozzi, the Zebre full-back, has been a rare highlight. game and if you look at the best bits for Scotland, they have come through her,” she says. “It is hard because you want to see a teammate do well but ideally, we don’t want her to go so well!”
One player who could be very influential in quelling Martin’s threat is 19-year-old Lagi Tuima, who is forming a new-look centre partnership with Lauren Cattell. Tuima is the niece of Fiji captain Akapusi Qera and Daley-mclean believes the youngster, who will be making just her second Test start, can add an extra dimension.
“Lagi wants to go and create things and isn’t afraid to go and express herself and just play. For me, it is very different. From playing alongside the likes of Emily Scarratt who was a big hard line runner, these girls are very different and Andrea Lovotti, Leonardo Ghiraldini and Maxime Mbanda have all been added to Italy’s pack to face France in Marseille.
“We knew that the first two games against England and Ireland would be very tough, but there were a lot of positives in our performances,” O’shea explained. “I believe very much in this group and in the path we are going down together.
“A year ago, the depth and the internal competition we can count on today were totally different, and I hope everyone in the environment will see the great progress we are making with Treviso and Zebre.” probably have a lot more subtle touches to their game.”
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