England centre Emily Scarratt will make her 100th start for the Red Roses, when she lines-up against the Black Ferns of New Zealand this Saturday. The Allianz Stadium in Twickenham is set to enclose this star-studded clash between two of the best Test match teams, as the number one ranked Red Roses, take on the back-to-back Women’s Rugby World Cup winners New Zealand.
England head coach John Mitchell has made five changes to his squad, from the team that recorded an impressive 38-19 win over France at Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium. The aforementioned Emily Scarratt comes in to start at outside centre, in a midfield partnership alongside last weekend’s player of the match, Gloucester-Hartpury’s Tatyana Heard. Scarratt becomes only the third England women’s player to achieve a century of starts, following in the footsteps of Sarah Hunter and Rocky Clark.
In the pack, Bristol Bears star Abbie Ward returns to the Red Roses in the second row, with Morwenna Talling dropped to the bench. There is a reshuffled front row with a trio of changes, as Mackenzie Carson, Lark Atkin-Davies and Sarah Bern all come in to start, with Hannah Botterman, Amy Cokayne and Maud Muir all named amongst the replacements this time around. Gloucester-Hartpury back row Georgia Brock is in line for her Red Roses debut off the bench, in the hopes of following up Lilli Ives Campion’s maiden cap last weekend.
“Our focus is to always stay focused on the main thing in our processes and how we are going to play against New Zealand,” Mitchell said.
“Every occasion at Allianz Stadium is really important to us and we know we will have to earn the right to contest a final here in 2025. We want to play here on a consistent basis and every time we go out and play here, we want to perform. We want to do it for the girls.”
Red Roses team to play New Zealand
15 Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 44 caps)
14 Abby Dow (Trailfinders Women, 46 caps)
13 Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning, 112 caps)
12 Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 23 caps)
11 Jess Breach (Saracens, 39 caps)
10 Holly Aitchison (Bristol Bears, 31 caps)
9 Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury, 73 caps)
1 Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury, 16 caps)
2 Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears, 58 caps)
3 Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)
4 Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 54 caps)
5 Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 65 caps)
6 Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs, 6 caps)
7 Marlie Packer (Saracens, 105 caps) – captain
8 Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury, 68 caps)
Replacements
16 Amy Cokayne (Leicester Tigers, 75 caps)
17 Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears, 48 caps)
18 Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury, 31 caps)
19 Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks, 14 caps)
20 Georgia Brock (Gloucester-Hartpury, uncapped)
21 Lucy Packer (Harlequins, 22 caps)
22 Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 50 caps)
23 Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 30 caps)