Brown gets chance to show her scrum skills
SHAUNAGH Brown is one of the most recognisable faces in the England Women’s side and the prop has been tipped to shine after returning to the line-up for today’s clash.
The Harlequins star, who previously represented England at the Commonwealth Games in the hammer and is a trained firefighter, did not feature in England’s opening TikTok Women’s Six Nations win against Scotland.
And head coach Simon Middleton explained that she has been working with Wales Grand Slam winner Adam Jones to improve her scrummaging, as she looks to earn a spot in one of the most competitive positions in the England squad.
Middleton explained: “After the autumn I sat down with Shaunagh and went through her game, she knew exactly the things she needed to work on. She’s gone away and worked on them really well.
“She has put in a lot of time with Adam Jones. She’s developed her scrummaging which was one of the real work-ons and she’s trained well. One thing you are going to get from Shaunagh
every time she trains is absolute commitment. She has been very noticeable all around the field and we felt she was ready for a start.”
England ran in nine tries on their way to a 57-5 win over Scotland.Victory today will make 20 consecutive wins for the Red Roses who are looking for a fourth straight title.
Italy were beaten 39-6 away in France last week, a scoreline which did not do justice to what was a relatively even affair for long periods. And Middleton knows his side will have to be on the money against the Azzurre. He added: “As a squad we are really familiar with Italy, in terms of what a threat they can be. At half-time
last year we hadn’t created one scoring opportunity against them which is pretty much unheard of for us.
“They keep the ball well and they can move it really well; they have good skills across their backline, they have real unpredictability about them. So it’s a case of expecting the unexpected when we take on Italy.”
Middleton makes 11 changes from the win over Scotland. Scrum-half Natasha Hunt, 33, makes her first England appearance since November 2020 having “stepped back” in 2021 because she was unhappy in the England camp.
Zoe Harrison starts at fly-half as Helena Rowland moves to 12. Holly Aitchison
is at 13 with Emily Scarratt on the bench.
No.8 Poppy Cleall will captain England for the second time as regular skipper Sarah Hunter is also among the replacements.
The TikTok Women’s Six Nations is more accessible than ever before. To find out how you can watch the Women’s Championship visit: womens.six nationsrugby.com/tv/