WRSS: England regroup, Canada build

Photo: englandrugby.com

That England might lose to Canada on Friday night was always possible. They are well matched teams, and Canada beat England twice in the summer of 2013 in the lead up to the 2014 World Cup. What was astonishing was the scale of the victory.

If there is any positive to come out of that 52-17 loss it is that England did narrowly “win” the second half 17-13, but the game was all over by then after the Red Nation ran in a near point-a-minute 39-0 first half.

Next up for England is France. A familiar enough opponent, but nonetheless a team England have not beaten since 2013. The four games since have been close – the average margin in France’s favour have been not much more than a single score – but even so this is no easy game to come back to after Friday’s reverse.

However France have announced 11 changes from the team that beat the USA, with just Laura Delas, Camille Cabalou, Pauline Soulard and Manon André keeping their places while Safi N'Diaye takes the captains armband. The result is a highly experimental lineup which presents England with the great chance to regain their confidence and end their losing run.

England have made seven changes to the starting line-up. Lauren Cattell comes in at outside centre while Fiona Pocock, Laura Keates, Alex Matthews and Poppy Leitch, who all started on the bench against Canada, earn a call up to the starting XV.

Zoe Aldcroft and Sarah Bern are on the bench and may earn their first senior cap, while captain Sarah Hunter earns her 80th.

Coach Scott Bemand said: “We have regrouped since the Canada game and are ready to face France, a side we know well. We were disappointed by our performance last time as we didn’t adapt well enough on the day. We have looked at what we need to improve, as well as the things we did well, and we want to make amends for the Six Nations result in March.”

Meanwhile the energy-sapping weather will be much the same as Friday, cloudless skies, a slight breeze, but also possibly slightly hotter at 34C.

For Canada the only problem faced by interim Coach Shaun Allen is how you follow Friday. Expectations will be sky high for their match against their oldest and biggest rivals, who they lost to 36-28 at home last year.

“We know that they are a very resilient group,” Allen said. “They put in a strong, gutsy performance against France and had a chance to win at the end of the game. The defensive performance that they put it, specifically at the end of the first half inside their 22, showed that they will be a difficult team to score on. They have a number of players that can be very threatening if we allow them to establish their rhythm.”

Allen has made one change to the starting XV with Katie McNally is rewarded with a start on the wing in place of Frédérique Rajotte, who moves to the bench.

“We did a very good job on attack against England,” Allen said. “The understanding and commitment shown by the squad was exactly what we were looking for in our first fixture. Against the USA we are looking for the players to perform their specific roles and to improve on the refinements that we have worked on in training and our review.”

With three games in just eight days, the Super Series is designed to give a World Cup-style quick turnaround between games.

“We have had a limited time to practice between games,” Allen said. “The priority has been on recovery and making sure that all the players are able to play at as close to 100 percent as possible. In our training we were looking at small improvements in some key areas that the coaches and players identified through video.”

US Coach Pete Steinberg has chosen a young starting XV for the game. Stacey Bridges will continue to captain the side that lead at half-time lead against France last Friday. Bridges' partner in the second row, Molly Kinsella, was one of six substitutes but starts tonight, as does Catherine Benson.

"I don't think we're the underdog going in against Canada; last time we played them we beat them," Steinberg said. "But I don't think we go in as favorites, either. I think it's going to be a well-contested match just as it was last year.

"France came in as 6 Nations champions, a team that's played five times this year. We were happy with the performance even if we weren't necessarily happy with the outcome. It's a little different coming into the Canada game because it's a team we know we can beat, it's a team we have beaten recently, and we have players that have beaten Canada."

Jenny Lui also gets the starting nod over this time Deven Owsiany in the No. 9 shirt and Nate Serevi and Jenn Sever will make their debuts in the centre.

"Choices in selection have been based around our desire to rotate because we feel we have depth in the squad, as well as the opportunity for us to be able to see more players," Steinberg said. "It's always hard for us to balance wanting to win the tournament - and we still have a chance to win the tournament - but at the same time we're not at the point where we can just focus on the players that we think are going to the World Cup; we still have to find out who they are. Some of these younger players need to be given the opportunity. Everyone's playing for a chance to start against England."

"A big theme we've had over practice is the 'small things,' and really having the players bring the intensity they'd bring to a game and executing the 'small things,'" Steinberg said. "We've been pretty hard on the players around body position, ball presentation, execution of the catch-pass, and really put some pressure on them to execute in practice in hopes it transfers over to the game."

England v France: Kickoff 10pm BST

USA v Canada: Kickoff midnight BST

England1. Rochelle Clark (Worcester) (111 caps); 2. Amy Cokayne (Lichfield) (14 caps); 3. Laura Keates (Worcester) (50 caps); 4. Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield) (32 caps); 5. Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park) (92 caps); 6. Alex Matthews (Richmond) (22 caps); 7. Poppy Leitch (Bristol) (4 caps); 8. Sarah Hunter (Bristol) (79 caps) (c); 9. La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park) (55 caps); 10. Amber Reed (Bristol) (30 caps); 11. Katie Mason (Bristol) (11 caps) ; 12. Ceri Large (Worcester) (48 caps); 13. Lauren Cattell (Saracens) (18 caps); 14. Lydia Thompson (Worcester) (23 caps); 15. Fiona Pocock (Richmond) (27 caps)16. Lark Davies (Worcester) (2 caps); 17. Victoria Cornborough (Richmond) (15 caps); 18. Sarah Bern (Bristol) (uncapped); 19. Zoe Aldrcoft (Darlington Mowden Park) (uncapped); 20. Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol) (18 caps); 21. Bianca Blackburn (Worcester) (14 caps); 22. Millie Wood (Lichfield) (1 cap); 23. Lotte Clapp (Saracens) (8 caps)

France:1. Dhia Traore (Maylis Stade Toulousain Rugby Féminin); 2. Manon Bigot (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 3. Patricia Carricaburu (Lons Rugby féminin Béarn Pyrénées); 4. Manon Andre (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 5. Audrey Forlani (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 6. Pauline Soulard (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 7. Virginie Griere (Lille Métropole Rugby Club Villeneuvois); 8. Safi N’diaye (Montpellier); 9. Laure Sansus (Stade Toulousain Rugby Féminin); 10. Camille Imart (Stade Toulousain Rugby Féminin); 11. Caroline Boujard (Montpellier); 12. Camille Boudaud (Rennes); 13. Elodie Poublan (Montpellier); 14. Camille Cabalou (AS Bayonne); 15. Laura Delas (Stade Tarbes Pyrénées Rugby)16. Agathe Sochat (Bordeaux); 17. Laure Clermidy (Lille Métropole Rugby Club Villeneuvois); 18. Emilie Mathieu (FC Grenoble Amazones); 19. Romane Menager (Lille Métropole Rugby Club Villeneuvois); 20. Yanna Rivoalen (Lille Métropole Rugby Club Villeneuvois); 21. Carla Neissen (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 22. Audrey Abadie (Blagnac-Saint Orens Rugby féminin); 23. Julie Duval (Ovalie Caennaise)

United States:1. Catherine Benson; 2. Kathryn Augustyn; 3. Hope Rogers; 4. Stacey Bridges (C); 5. Molly Kinsella; 6. Elizabeth Cairns; 7. Nicole Strasko; 8. Jordan Gray; 9. Jennifer Lui; 10. Kimberly Rozier; 11. Cheta Emba; 12. Jenn Sever; 13. Nate Serevi; 14. Saskia Morgan; 15. Jessica Wooden16. Joanna Kitlinski; 17. Tiffany Faaee; 18. Jamila Reinhardt; 19. Alycia Washington; 20. Christiane Pheil; 21. Deven Owsiany; 22. Megan Foster; 23. Naya Tapper

Canada:1. Carolyn McEwen (Burnaby Lake Rugby Club), Vancouver, BC; 2. Mary-Jane Kirby (Highland RFC) Brampton, ON; 3. DaLeaka Menin (Hornets) Vulcan, AB; 4. Laura Russell captain (Toronto Nomads) Bolton, ON; 5. Kayla Mack (Wild Oats) Saskatoon, SK; 6. Barbara Mervin (Velox RFC) Peterborough, ON; 7. Latoya Blackwood (St. Anne de Bellevue/Toulouse) Montreal, QC; 8. Jacey Murphy (Aurora Barbarians) Alliston, ON; 9. Chelsea Guthrie (Stratchona Druids) Edmonton, AB; 10. Emily Belchos (Markham Irish) Barrie, ON; 11. Katie McNally (Castaway Wanderers) Guelph, ON; 12. Andrea Burk (Capilano RFC) North Vancouver, BC; 13. Alex Tessier (Montreal Barbarians) Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, QB; 14. Brittany Waters (Castaway Wanderers) Vancouver, BC; 15. Julianne Zussman (Castaway Wanderers) Montreal, QC16. Julia Folk (UVic/Castaway Wanderers), Regina, SK; 17. Demi Stamatakis (SFU) Vancouver, BC; 18. Olivia DeMerchant (Woodstock Wildmen) Mapledale, NB; 19. Tyson Beukeboom (Aurora Barbarians) Uxbridge, ON; 20. Fabiola Forteza (Club de Rugby de Quebec) Quebec, QC; 21. Brianna Miller (SABRFC), Pointe-Claire, QC; 22. Anais Holly (TMRRFC) Montreal, QC; 23. Frédérique Rajotte (Sainte Anne de Bellevue RFC) Sainte Anne de Bellevue, QC