Matthews proud to be leading England

■By BEN JAYCOCK

PHOEBE Murray and Bo Westcombe-Evans make their Red Roses debuts tonight as England begin their WXV1 title defence in Vancouver against USA.

Inside centre Murray impressed for last season’s Premiership Women’s Rugby finalists Bristol Bears and is taking time away from her medicine studies at the University of Bristol and her part-time work as a junior doctor.

Loughborough Lightnings’ Bo Westcombe-Evans scored nine tries last season with England head coach John Mitchell a big advocate for her ‘outside break’.

Murray forms a new-look centre partnership with Test centurion Emily Scarratt instead of Gloucester-Hartpury’s Tatyana Heard, while Westcombe-Evans gets the nod for the opening round ahead of renowned finisher Abby Dow.

After coming off the bench in a 24-12 win over New Zealand earlier this month, flanker Georgia Brock makes her first England start.

No.8 Alex Matthews will captain England for the first time, making a 70th appearance for her country, while second row Rosie Galligan returns to the side after thumb and leg injuries kept her sidelined since the Six Nations.

“I am very proud but also shocked,” Gloucester-Hartpury’s Matthews said of being handed the captaincy. “The conversation I had with Mitch is that nothing changes, he just wants hard work. “Marlie Packer was the first one to come over and congratulate me, offering any support I may want.”

Zoe Harrison comes in for Holly Aitchison at fly-half, with the Bristol playmaker dropping to the bench.

Looking at the changes, Matthews said: “Bo is strong, powerful and goes through the middle and will step up in defence and attack.”

On Murray’s inclusion Matthews said: “I am looking forward to seeing how electric she can be. She has played against us in the league and caused damage.”

Brock gets her chance to make an impression, and Matthews says she saw it coming, adding: “I felt Georgia was going under the radar for a season too long – her performances for Gloucester have been unbelievable. She is a quiet hard worker.”

England, who won the inaugural staging of the tournament last year, will also play New Zealand and Canada to complete their campaign.

“We have been building on our game for the past eight weeks towards our WXV opener against USA,” said attack coach Lou Meadows. “This group of girls are excited for their opportunity to attack the tournament right from the start for the Red Roses this Sunday. We understand our reality and just want to get playing.”

Captain: Alex Matthews

England have won 19 of their previous 20 clashes against the USA, their solitary loss coming in the 1991 Rugby World Cup final. The last meeting between the sides resulted in a 52-14 victory for the Red Roses on home soil.

The USA are unbeaten in three matches (W2, D1), their best such run since 2009 (W2, D1), and have not gone four games unbeaten since a streak of four victories in 2006.

Half of the 30-player USA squad for this WXV campaign ply their trade in the Premiership with Loughborough Lightning, Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs all having four representatives, Sale Sharks have two and Trailfinders one.

The Eagles moved up from WXV 2 after their third-place finish in the Pacific Four Series earlier in the year.

Former Exeter Chief Kate Zackary returns to captaincy having recovered from an injury to play in her first Eagles game since the team’s win against Australia in May. Former teammate Hope Rogers also returns to the Eagles squad for the first time since May.

USA head coach Si-one Fukofuka said: “The squad has worked really hard on their core skills, set piece and our collision work. We know we are in a performance tournament against the top four teams in the world and are excited to test ourselves against the best teams in the world as we continue to build towards the World Cup.”

New Roses: Bo Westcombe-Evans and, inset, Phoebe Murray

PICTURES: Getty Images