The Red Roses commence their WXV title defence this Sunday, as they take on the United States in their opening round match. England head coach John Mitchell has shuffled the deck for his side, and rested an assortment of his top names for this clash with the USA.
The likes of his regular captain Marlie Packer, and vice captains Zoe Aldcroft and Natasha Hunt are all left out of this altered match day 23. With such a change up to the leadership group, Mitchell has appointed back row battler Alex Matthews with the captaincy, in what will be the first time the Gloucester-Hartpury star has led the Red Roses in a Test match.
It has been a whirlwind week for Matthews, and the number eight has stepped into the skipper role with great aplomb in the run up to the match. Matthews was flanked by her England attack coach Lou Meadows, in the Red Roses’ media conference, and expressed how she felt when Mitchell gave her the nod to lead the side. Speaking from the England team’s WXV base in Vancouver, Canada, Matthews said;
“I’m very proud, also very shocked. Just the conversation I had with Mitch (John Mitchell), in how nothing changes. He said he wanted me (to be captain), because I optimise hard work, and that’s what he wants. There’s enough leaders around us in the squad, that not much changes, I still just play. Marlie (Packer) was the first one to come up and congratulate me, and say, ‘anything you want, any support, you run the week how you want.’
“We arrived into Twickenham on Thursday, the day before we flew. He (John Mitchell) pulled me to one side, before lunch. I thought I was going to get the call to get dropped, or rested or something. So it was very casual from Mitch. I was nervous, shaking and felt sick for the rest of my lunch!”
The fact that the Red Roses can confidently stand down their regular skipper and two vice-captains for the opening match of an international competition, speaks volumes about the side’s squad depth. Lou Meadows certainly recognises this, and is delighted to see such a vast array of world class players, ready to represent the Red Roses in this weekend’s opening WXV fixture.
“It’s brilliant. It just shows where we are as a team, and the strength and depth that we’ve got within this squad. Al (Alex Matthews) is an absolute leader by example on the pitch, she works herself to the death on every game, every training session. I think this opportunity for her to actually use her voice, to manage the referee and then be that bridge between the two in a game. They will be a huge growth opportunity for her.
“We really want to grow our leaders. We want to develop them as people as well as players, and that’s a massive part of it, and I think she’s going to absolutely excel in that area when she gets it. I know she’s being really modest right now, but genuinely, she deserves it.
“There’s multiple others that could as well, which is brilliant, because you don’t want to be reliant on one individual. As we build towards the World Cup, we’ve got to make sure we’ve got multiple players on that pitch. They’re able to drive that team forward, and could step up into that captaincy role, should we need it.”
There are two debutants in the England starting XV, with Mitchell naming Loughborough Lightning wing Bo Westcombe-Evans and Bristol Bears centre Phoebe Murray in starting spots. Westcombe-Evans and Murray will become the two latest members of the capped Red Roses contingent, after Lilli Ives Campion and Georgia Brock made their own respective debuts in recent WXV warm-up matches against France and New Zealand.
Matthews has had many a West Country run-in with Murray, and expressed what England fans can expect from the powerful Bristol Bears midfielder.
“We come up against her with Bristol, quite a bit at Gloucester, that top four rivalry. That centre partnership she has with ‘Reedo’ (Amber Reed) is quite threatening. They zip the ball across, but also she is a hard carrier and in defence, she’s just a solid centre.”
“Phoebe is strong, powerful in the middle. Steps up in defence and attack, which is what we want. Then you’ve got the players around her, which hopefully will just give her that confidence on on Sunday as well.”
“And then Bo, w’re just looking forward seeing how electric she can be. Seeing her against us (in training), she’s dangerous, but yes, there’s opposition that don’t know what she can bring. I think she can cause some real damage.”
“It’s really exciting actually to be able to talk about them and give them this opportunity.” Lou Meadows said. “They’ve both trained exceptionally hard through preseason and as pillars and support in the team prep for their warm up games, and I think they deserve the shot, they’re both full of confidence. They’ve got a brilliant skill set.”
“Bo’s got an outside break, that we can’t wait to see what she does with it against USA. And so, they’re going to strengthen that back line and contribute to hopefully a lot of tries on the weekend.”
After making her international debut against the Black Ferns, back row Georgia Brock is set for her first Red Roses start this Sunday. Brock impressed all onlookers at the Allianz Stadium, as she replaced her captain Marlie packer off the bench, and put in a solid shift towards the end of the win against New Zealand.
Alex Matthews is excited to see her Gloucester-Hartpury teammate take centre stage from kick-off, and backs her fellow back rower to only push on with another strong performance.
“Yes, she’s been seamless. To be honest, you wouldn’t know that she hasn’t been in the camp before, I think it’s a testament to how she’s formed at Gloucester. I felt she was going under the radar for a season too long. The performances she put in at Gloucester were unbelievable. So yes, credit to her, really, and all her hard work. Again, she’s just a quiet, hard worker, puts head down, gets on with it, just not afraid to crack on, and that’s what we want here.”
Whilst it is only a positive outcome for the Red Roses to have such significant squad depth, Matthews recognised how the competition is fierce for places in the match day 23.
“It’s challenging, but I also think it’s amazing. I think previously, you had the squad, and it was stuck to that. But you know, Mitch isn’t afraid if you see someone forming in the PWR, to bring them in. I think that’s just the strength in the league and where the game’s going. It also keeps the players that have been in it for a long time on our toes, and you just want to keep getting better, but also support the girls coming in, because it’s all just challenging us and making us a better team.”
Another notable absentee from England’s opening match of WXV is Holly Aitchison, as the fly half has been taken out of the match day 23 altogether. The Bristol Bears halfback has been leading in the 10 jersey throughout the wins against France and the Black Ferns, yet Mitchell has changed up the side, with Zoe Harrison instead starting at fly half.
Helena Rowland waits on the bench as fly half cover, as well as providing a Swiss army knife of options across the back-line. Aitchison took the decision to stand down quite well by all accounts, with Lou Meadows explaining that the Bristol star praised Zoe Harrison for getting the go ahead to start against the United States.
“She had an awesome impact off the bench against New Zealand. She’s obviously got a triple threat capacity, especially with her boot. We know she can play a really good kicking game, and she’s worked really hard on her ability to attack the line as well with ball in hand. I think that’s the strength that’s going to come against USA, the ability to play and attack at that line, but also turn them around if we need to.
“She’s able to deliver on all those aspects. She’s also worked really, really hard at connecting with the rest of the back line, and I think she’ll provide that confidence that I was talking about for Phoebe and Bo as new debutantes. Then she’s got the experience of ‘Scaz’ (Emily Scarratt) as well in that 13 shirt. So it’s going to be a really tasty back line, and I think she’s the one to organise it this Sunday.”
“It’s brilliant. They’ve actually got a really healthy competitive nature between them. They drive one another forward, and that’s really important. You don’t want anyone getting complacent. You don’t want anyone guaranteeing the start. You want to make sure that they’re always continuing and working on their craft, and that they’re trying to challenge one another and themselves every day.
“I think that’s what they bring to the table. It also gives us an advantage against opposition, because they’re not sure who we’re going to go with, so they can’t necessarily target us either. Then we’ve got the ability with Holly as well, to bring both of them on, as you saw the other weekends, and have them at 10 and 12. I think that’s really exciting. Both excellent distributors. They’ve both got a great boot, and, they’re just strengthening the depth of that shirt every single day.”
“Holly is extremely professional, and she was excellent about Zoe starting. She had a really good conversation with me and Mitch about it, and then she congratulated Zoe. And she’s genuinely happy for the rotation to see where that can go.
“I think she also enjoys a little bit more competition as well, and to try and get the shirt back, that’s where we’ve got to as a squad. The bond is really strong, but so is the competition. Like Al (Alex Matthews) said, you’ve got to stay on your toes. You’ve got to keep checking over your shoulder, as to who’s coming up.”
There is no ignoring the fact that the opening match against the USA, is arguably the easier of England’s three upcoming WXV matches. The Red Roses are utilising their wider squad, before their upcoming battles with the Black Ferns and Canada round off the tournament next month. However, the USA are by no means a side that will roll over, with their sevens squad shining at the recent Paris Olympics as they claimed bronze medals this past Summer.
Meadows recognised the attacking threats that the stars and stripes are bringing to the fray, as they cross their North American border for this clash in Canada. Meadows expressed how the Red Roses are viewing this match in the same light as a pool stage battle in the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, when they will have to use the full depth of the squad to secure the all important tournament victories.
“So ultimately, USA is as dangerous a fixture as it could be against Canada and New Zealand. When it comes to this type of competition, you have to be winning all of them. So we’re going out there to win, we’re going to focus on us, and we’re going to play the game that we want to play.”
“We’re viewing it as that kind of (Rugby World Cup) competition. We’re using it as an opportunity to really expose ourselves to what that could feel like and be like, because the more preparation we can get for ourselves and for our players, and the way we review those types of games is really important to put us in a good place for next year”