England centre Tatyana Heard is searching for her midfield partner, to join her in the back-line for this Saturday’s Test against France. The Red Roses are getting ready for their first fixture of the 2024/25 season, yet John Mitchell’s side have to fill the vacancy left by regular starting centre Meg Jones.
The Leicester Tigers star was last out on the pitch with the Great Britain sevens team, throughout the recent Paris Olympic Games. However, since returning to the England camp, Jones suffered a significant ankle injury and will be out of action until at least 2025. This means Jones will play no part in England’s September Tests against France or the Black Ferns, and won’t be heading to Canada for the upcoming WXV campaign.
Heard expressed how Jones’ injury is a “massive loss” for the Red Roses, with the Olympian missed for her on-field abilities and off-field charisma. The decibels around the England camp have been noticeably quieter in Jones’ absence, as Heard wishes her centre-field partner a swift recovery in time for the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
“A massive loss. Obviously, Meg’s huge for us. Her personality on an off field is massive, and we’ve really, really missed her. But you know, as Mitch (John Mitchell) has alluded to, it creates opportunities for other people to slot into that 13 shirt. So, it should be an interesting few weeks and an exciting time for whoever gets the opportunity.”
“I’m just a one trick pony me, so (I’m) just a 12. I have never really moved out of there. So, I think that’ll be where I go, if I do get to play.”
“I don’t think my game necessarily changes massively based on who’s around me. I do play quite differently to a lot of other 12s, so I don’t really change the way I play. I think the biggest difference is just that noise level, nobody can be louder than Meg, can they? So it is that noise level and the awareness of what’s going on outside you is something you adapt to.”
“It’s really small things, but the awareness of noticing one person’s voice to another is something that probably goes unsaid, but it is a big thing. If I’ve got used to hearing someone’s voice, I can tune into that and hear it very easily. It’s maybe more like having to listen more to tune into a different tone, or something like that. That is a big difference for me.”
Whilst Jones remains out of action, England fans will see the return of her Olympic sevens teammate Ellie Kildunne this Saturday. The flyer is expected to start at fullback in the upcoming fixture against France, but away from the England squad, there is another high-profile sevens player rumoured to be on her way over to the 15s game.
Having exploded onto both the rugby pitch and the social media landscape, USA sevens star Ilona Maher is rumoured to be on her way to rugby union. The most followed rugby player on Instagram, Maher has broken into the mainstream media with talk show appearances, and will even be on prime-time television show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in the coming months.
Despite her celebrity status, Maher has the on-field aggression and incredible skillset to impact any Premiership Women’s Rugby club, and Heard would love to see the Olympic bronze medallist find a herself a new home with the reigning PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury.
“She’s a massive name, isn’t she? Off field and on field, to be fair, but her social media has done so much for USA seven and USA rugby, and the investment that they’ve got from that. I think it just shows that how much can be had from external pressures and environments coming out into sport. We just see the rugby, and then there’s so much going on in the outside world that you don’t really realise is happening.
“She’s taken the attention of that and brought it into her sport and allowed people to see what we do, which is really, really cool. The PWR, the fastest growing league in the in the world, and the standards as well in the PWR are really, really high. So I think she’s a great rugby player, she’s a great sevens player. I’ve never personally seen her play 15, so I think that would be very interesting.
“Definitely so powerful, so strong, so would be a very good for a PWR side on the field and equally, off field. That would be huge to just get more eyes on the game, get more people interested in PWR, and then I guess the World Cup following on from that. So that would be pretty exciting.”
Turning her attention back to the Red Roses, and Heard is excited to find out who she will partner up alongside in the midfield this Saturday at her club’s home stadium. The door is open to numerous possible combinations at Gloucester-Hartpury’s Kingsholm, with the likes of Emily Scarratt, Helena Rowland and uncapped Bristol Bears midfielder Phoebe Murray all presenting viable options in the outside centre spot.
“Phoebe’s trained really, really well. She’s had opportunities in the past being in and around camp, but never quite got an opportunity to wear the shirt. But she’s been class. Her professionalism is great, her work rate is great, and she just brings so much on field, Phoebe’s great.”
Murray is one of an assortment of uncapped players, that Heard has enjoyed training alongside throughout England’s long pre-season of preparations. The likes of Heard’s Gloucester-Hartpury teammates Pip Hendy, Steph Else and Georgia Brock have PWR winners medals in their personal trophy cabinets, and Heard believes that proven ability to succeed has given them boundless confidence when making the step up to the England environments.
“It was really cool to win the Prem, but it seems so far away now. Since we’ve been through all of pre-season. But I definitely do think it brings confidence, especially for our young girls, when, Steph (Else) Georgia Brock, Pip Hendy, those girls coming into camp, I think it’s been huge for their confidence levels and knowing that they’ve, played in the best… well at the time, the best team in the Prem. So, I think that it gives those players definitely more confidence and they feel a bit more comfortable in that environment.”
Whilst Heard has plenty to consider as she waits to hear who her centre partner will be on Saturday, one factor that is unlikely to be altered is who she will be lining up against. Gabrielle Vernier is amongst the France side’s most beloved fan favourites, as despite being on the smaller side of the professional rugby scales at 5ft 4″, Vernier enjoys nothing more than levelling her bigger opponents with thunderous tackles. Heard is excited for her personal battle within Saturday’s fixture, as England and France get set for their West Country clash.
“She’s world class, isn’t she? She’s got skills, she’s got the athleticism. She can just be everywhere. And she’s so tiny, isn’t she, but the shots she puts in our class. So really tough opposition, and she definitely galvanises that team as well. She’s huge for France, and she’s huge for their backline. She’s a tough one, and always someone you want to look out for as well in their opposition.”
Heard is one of a handful of Gloucester-Hartpury players, who will be heading back ‘Holm’ in the white jerseys of the England team. The likes of Heard, lock Zoe Aldcroft, hooker Maud Muir and scrum half Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt, make up a core contingency of the England squad, with cherry and white firmly found within the roots of the Red Roses.
Heard expressed how there are no better experiences than playing at a packed out Kingsholm, and echoed the thoughts of her teammate Muir, in how the ‘Shed’ generates one of the best atmospheres throughout the sport. Gloucester is certainly a rugby-first city, with the iconic cherry and white back drop setting the stage for Saturday, as Les Bleus look to spill their own style on England’s canvas.
“They’re incredible, The Gloucester faithful. They’re always out there supporting us and supporting the men. It’s just huge for us, when you get the shed full, nothing beats that. It’s an incredible environment to be around that level of noise and that level of support. I think it’s really, really cool that the Red Roses will get to experience that. Equally, having the Red Roses at Kingsholm might bring in even more fans. So I think it’s a really exciting time for us.”
“We saw how that went in the Six Nations a couple years ago. That was massive for us and everyone at Kingsholm and equally for the red roses. I wasn’t involved in that game and was watching, and it was so cool to see so many people had made the effort to come to Gloucester, because it’s not close. It’s not like London, with all the traffic and easy access to get to places. It’s a bit more difficult.
“So I think to see that people have made that effort and gone out of their way to come to Gloucester, and then equally, all the fans from Gloucester buying in and getting there to see us is is really cool. So I think it’s really exciting time for Gloucester rugby, England rugby, everyone involved.”