3. Gloucester-Hartpury back row Georgia Brock ready for her Red Roses debut
There is once again a Test match debutant on the cards for the Red Roses, with Gloucester-Hartpury back row Georgia Brock eager to make her first appearence in the famous white shirt. Brock has been named on the bench by John Mitchell for the battle with the Black Ferns, with the 23-year-old ready to become the newest official Red Rose.
Brock would follow up on the efforts made by Lilli Ives Campion, as the Loughborough Lightning back row received her first England cap in the win over France last Saturday. Whilst a Test debut against Les Bleus is a challenge in itself, the stakes are higher for Brock’s first England run-out with the Black Ferns coming to town. However, despite the caliber of the opposition, Aldcroft and Mitchell back the Gloucester-Hartpury star to shine on the big stage.
ZOE ALDCROFT: “Georgia is a great girl, obviously, playing alongside her this season, she’s really come into her own. She’s been a key player for us, and she’s really secured her starting place in Gloucester-Hartpury. Now for her to come up to England and show what she’s done, been up to this preseason, it’s really exciting. I’m so happy for her to be able to get her first cap.”
JOHN MITCHELL: “She’s a very hard working athlete, a person who doesn’t say much and gets on with that. She’s got a really good athletic profile, she’s got a really good future. She suits the way that we’re trying to play the game. She’s very comfortable and intuitive with ball on hand, over and above the hard work stuff in the contact.
“I like her ability to keep the ball moving. I like her ability to regain momentum, and that’s what I really look forward to in a seven. We’ve got a few older players in our back rows. So it’s important to make sure that we’re bringing through quality as well.”
4. Mitchell makes four changes to the forwards – Abbie Ward returns and a new front row
With just one alteration made to the starting back-line upon Emily Scarratt’s inclusion, it came as a surprise to see half of the starting forward pack changed for the Black Ferns fixture. Abby Ward is back in the locks after completing her return from injury, and the Bristol Bears forward will pack down the engine room alongside her vice-captain Zoe Aldcroft. This change sees Morwenna Talling drop to the bench after a stunning effort against France.
England’s entire front row has been swapped out in a pre-planned change, to get all six players significant match minutes ahead of WXV. Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir have been replaced by Mackenzie Carson, Lark Atkin-Davies and Sarah Bern, with the Bristol tight-head making her first start, after returning from injury against France last weekend in Gloucester.
JOHN MITCHELL: “Everything was planned. Yes, so playing my first two teams (against France and New Zealand). So it’s good to have two world class 13s. So Helena (Rowland) got a start last week, and Emily’s getting the start this week.”
ZOE ALDCROFT: “It’s lovely having Abby back. I’ve worked with her, I think it was last time we did a start, it was about 30 times we’ve been there together. So it’s really good to have her and her knowledge. She has such an incredible mindset and is a great leader. So it’s really good to have her back in.”
“I like to keep it consistent. Every time I take the field, I keep it the same. I’d say, maybe with Abby, she knows exactly like, we have a connection together that we’ve had for many years, and we’re still trying to build that in with Moz (Morwenna Talling) and Rosie (Galligan) and get it that strong as well.”
5. No allegiance issues for John Mitchell and Maddie Feaunati against New Zealand
England head coach John Mitchell made it clear, that neither he or former Black Ferns prospect Maddie Feaunati have any allegiance issues when facing New Zealand. Mitchell hammered home his affirmation to the Red Roses, as despite his Taranaki accent, Mitchell has not lived in New Zealand for 22 years, and does not have any emotional attachment to the Black Ferns’ performances.
Likewise, England back-row Maddie Feaunati will be looking to build upon her first Test match start last weekend with another solid performance, albeit against the side she could well have been playing for had fate fallen another way. Feaunati was firmly on the Black Ferns books during her time in New Zealand, having come through the ranks at Wellington Pride and onto the Super Rugby Aupiki scene with Hurricanes Poua before moving home to England and signing with Exeter Chiefs.
Mitchell ensured that Feaunati will not be caught up in the ‘what if’s’ of her international career, as the Leeds born back row is ready to bring the fight to an assortment of her former teammates from her time in the Southern Hemisphere.
JOHN MITCHELL: It was back in ’98 (first experience of facing a New Zealand team), was probably against the All Blacks in Dunedin. That was probably when I was a lot younger, and I didn’t expect, the world to become as cosmopolitan as it has become. back then it was an emotional time for me, because I’m still just out of the country.
“These days it’s just professional sport. England’s my home and rugby has been a big part of my life here as well. So there’s no really issues around that, I don’t emotionally get caught up in it. I haven’t lived in New Zealand for 22 years, although I might still speak like them.”
“We don’t really talk about that noise (with Maddie Feaunati), to create a story in her mind. I guess what was more important was to make sure that her emotional and physical tank was filled this week, after the outstanding performance that she gave late last week.
“Emotionally that would have taken a fair bit of out of her, as it did a lot of the girls. Because it was the first hit out, so it was really important to make sure that we peaked our week, and that was the main area that we were focused in, especially in Maddie’s case.”