FORMER ENGLAND CAPTAIN
England coach Simon Middleton clearly sees an opportunity to rest some star players, develop others and try new combinations in this third round fixture against Wales with seven changes to his starting lineup that beat France.
Sarah Hunter warms the bench this week while developing leader Abbie Scott captains the team. The experienced Rachael Burford makes an appearance for the first time this tournament and, along with Marlie Packer who returns from a short injury break, will be champing at the bit to remind us all of what she can do.
Sarah Beckett at blindside, Abbie Dow on the wing and Zoe Harrison at 12 will want to show their intent while Claudia MacDonald, from the bench, has an opportunity to break up the Natasha Hunt and Leanne Riley double act in the No.9 shirt. Middleton has an embarrassment of riches at his disposal but perhaps the only chink in the armour in the back line – it won't be quite as smooth without the calm, composed, graceful presence of Emily Scarratt at 15, who is being rested to nurse a slight injury.
The front five remain physical and powerful and Wales will struggle in this area. At set-piece and in open play England should dominate, but it is not all apparently smelling of roses. Middleton has said he was unhappy with his side's defensive efforts against France. France woke up in the second half, it was not all down to English under-performance, but this has given the Red Roses something to grasp on to this week to add fuel to their fire.
Wales are at home, they are buoyed by their draw against Italy and will go in to this game realistically not expecting to win but wanting to mess up the English party in any way they can.
Hannah Bluck at 12 is my Welsh player to watch. She is relatively new to rugby and still has much to learn but it is pleasing to see her in the centre of the pitch. She is a physical player and will need to demonstrate that in spades today if she is to help to release the likes of Jasmine Joyce on the wing.
Joyce is Wales' most potent attacking threat and will want to make her impact on this game along with Elinor Snowsill who starts at 15. Snowsill is a naturally talented player with flair and vision while also bringing her 50 caps' worth of much needed experience. The impact that these two are allowed to have on the game will be an indicator of their team's wider performance.
England want to improve their defence but it is the Welsh who must stand firm in this area to have a chance of a competitive game.
Hunter said this week, before the squad announcement of seven changes, that they have respect for Wales – Hunter is media trained and well behaved. I am media trained but not so well behaved so I can say that England will win this Test by some margin. I repeat my call from two weeks ago that the structure of this tournament should be changed to allow for more competitive rugby more often, but we saw in the last round with the poor form of France the unexpected does sometimes happen.
In 2009 I was the first England captain to lead her team to defeat against Wales. I still remember standing on the pitch at the end of the game watching the elation of the Welsh after Non Evans slotted a last-gasp penalty to win by one point. It was one of the lowest moments of my international career; I hated losing to Wales as much as they enjoyed beating us. But the reality for Wales is that in 33 Test matches between the two, England have won 31.
The second win for Wales came in 2015 which was England's disastrous year following their 2014 World Cup glory.
“It is not a question of if England will win, it's a question of by how much”
Nicky Ponsford was acting head coach that year as England slipped to their worst ever finish in the tournament table – fourth. So, miracles do happen but I fear for Wales that 2019 will not be the year for their third.
Without Scarratt today we are unlikely to see an attacking kicking threat from England outside of Katy Daley-McLean. Kicking in the women's game has been thrust in to the spotlight after a thought-provoking article from former England full-back Nolli Waterman about the lack of depth of kicking skill across the game. There are only a handful of truly world-class kickers in the women's game and we often see teams, particularly at club level, fail to exit their own 22 through the use of the boot.
While I agree with Nolli's analysis I do wonder how her own rugby career would have played out if she was a kicking full-back. Would we have seen as much of her incredible footwork, her unpredictable but breath-taking counter-attack, her allusiveness or indeed her ability to play on the edge and drive fear in to any opposition that she faced?
She retired from England as one of the best players of this generation and is now rightly reaping the rewards of such an illustrious career. A character on and off the pitch that in my opinion would have been thwarted by a desire to kick.
In all honesty I find myself spending more time wishing there was less kicking in the men's game than more in the women's game. How often have we heard the boos of boredom sing out at Twickenham because of a long kicking duel in front of us. I tear my hair out regularly at the sight of another aimless kick in the men's club or international game.
So while I agree with Nolli that generally kicking is one area of the women's game that has plenty of room for improvement, I don't want to see that same technical skill development lead to a tactical dulling of the game.
Nolli was perhaps a player of an ilk that we won't see again but I don't want the game to go in a direction whereby the mere chance to see another becomes impossible.
The joy of this current England team is its ability to attack from anywhere. I expect to see more of the same today whether from the boot of Daley-Mclean or not. It is not a question of if England will win, it is a question of by how much.
