Mclean expecting 6 Nations thriller
FEB
England captain Katy McLean is expecting a thriller of a match this Sunday when England take on France in the RBS 6 Nations as part of ‘Super Sunday’ at Worcester Warriors’ Sixways Stadium.
The Darlington Mowden Park Shark fly half was a member of the team that defeated France 11-10 in Rennes a year ago, and it was her boot that sealed the victory in the latter stages of the game. The win handed England a fifth consecutive Six Nations title and a Grand Slam crown.
And Sunday’s match, which sees a triple billing of international rugby with the men and women’s Under 20s teams also in action against France, is also set to be a crowd pleaser. Both England and France are the only unbeaten teams in the championship so far, and only a points difference of 30 separate the two teams.
“France are always tough opposition and I'm sure Sunday will be no difference,” said McLean, whose side top the Six Nations table. “They are always a very physical side, and they have been having a good season so far. Ireland tested them last time out but I am sure they’ll be looking to build on that against us. They have some changes in their squad who I'm sure will be looking to play well against us. It is all to play for on Sunday and because of that I am sure this will produce an excellent match.”
England head into Sunday’s match on the back of two good wins against Wales and Italy. They have scored 87 points and conceded only five and are on course to defend their crown.
McLean added: “We wanted to build on our performance against Wales and we certainly did that against Italy two weeks ago. It was an excellent team performance with Heather Fisher, Kat Merchant and Emily Scarratt having very good games. And I hope we can reproduce that on Sunday.
“It will also be great to have two other England teams playing and supporting us on the day, creating a fantastic festival of rugby atmosphere, whilst this is another chance to take international women’s rugby on the road. We hope as many people as possible will come and support England on Sunday.”
England Head Coach Gary Street has made a handful of changes for Sunday’s match with Becky Essex, Sophie Hemming and Fran Mathews called back into the starting line-up while Rosemarie Crowley has today (Tuesday) been called up to the bench as cover for the injured Claire Purdy.
England:
15 Danielle Waterman Worcester
14 Katherine Merchant Worcester
13 Emily Scarratt Lichfield
12 Kimberley Oliver Bristol
11 Francesca Matthews Richmond
10 Katy Mclean (C) Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
9 La Toya Mason Wasps
1 Rochelle Clark Worcester
2 Emma Croker Richmond
3 Sophie Hemming Bristol
4 Joanna McGilchrist Wasps
5 Rebecca EssexRichmond
6 Heather FisherWorcester
7 Margaret Alphonsi (vc) Saracens
8 SarahHunter Lichfield
Replacements:
16 Amy Garnett Saracens
17 Rosemarie Crowley Lichfield
18 Rowena Burnfield Richmond
19 Catherine Spencer Bristol
20 Georgina Rozario Lichfield
21 Rachael Burford Richmond
22 Georgina Roberts Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
