Mitchell has made seven changes to his starting XV
England head coach John Mitchell has made a multitude of changes to his starting XV for the team’s match against Wales. England host Wales at Ashton Gate stadium on Saturday and Mitchell has made seven changes to the starting team.
Emily Scarratt and Helena Rowland are not included in the matchday 23 at all. It has not been confirmed if the players have been dropped for performance or if they are managing their minutes. Scarratt won her first cap last week against Italy since the Rugby World Cup final in 2022 after suffering from a neck injury. Megan Jones and Tatyana Heard come in as the new centre partnership.
Read more: England Women’s Six Nations squad
Last week’s half-back pair of Zoe Harrison and Lucy Packer are both demoted to the bench. Holly Aitchison and Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt will start.
Aside from those four changes, the backs remain the same with star Ellie Kildunne looking to back up her player of the match performance from round one.
In the forwards, Maud Muir comes in for Kelsey Clifford in the front row. Rosie Galligan will partner Zoe Aldcroft, who wins her 50th cap, at lock and Alex Matthews comes in at number eight for the banned Sarah Beckett.
Mitchell said: “We are excited to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in this year’s tournament. To have sold 18,000 tickets with two days to go until matchday shows the appetite for Red Roses rugby in this country.
“The girls have been focused on the opportunity that a match against Wales presents and we have been planning and building on this short week for some time. All teams will be better for their second outing and we’re looking forward to improving our game.”
England won their opener against Italy 48-0 despite going down to 14 players after 11 minutes. Beckett has received a three-game ban for a crocodile roll on Italy centre Michela Sillari.
England: Ellie Kildunne; Abby Dow, Megan Jones, Tatyana Heard, Jess Breach; Holly Aitchison, Natasha Hunt; Hannah Botterman, Lark Atkin-Davies, Maud Muir, Zoe Aldcroft, Rosie Galligan, Sadia Kabeya, Marlie Packer, Alex Matthews.
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Abbie Ward, Maddie Fe’aunati, Lucy Packer, Zoe Harrison, Sydney Gregson.
Wales: Jenny Hesketh; Jasmine Joyce, Hannah Jones, Kerin Lake, Carys Cox; Lleucu George, Sian Jones; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Donna Rose, Abbie Fleming, Georgia Evans, Kate Williams, Alex Callender (vice-captain), Bethan Lewis
Replacements: Kelsey Jones, Abby Constable, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Natalia John, Alisha Butchers, Keira Bevan, Kayleigh Powell, Nel Metcalfe
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