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England suffer Alex Matthews blow ahead of Six Nations
England will be without Alex Matthews for at least the first two rounds of the Guinness Women’s Six Nations after the Gloucester-Hartpury back row was banned for three matches.
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Matthews was shown a yellow card during the second half of Gloucester-Hartpury’s Premiership Women’s Rugby final victory against Saracens on Sunday and was subsequently cited for a dangerous tackle.
The 2014 World Cup winner was not included in the England team to play Italy in the opening round of the Six Nations in York on Sunday, and it was confirmed later on Thursday that she had been suspended.
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Matthews has been banned for three weeks, but that suspension will be reduced to two on completion of tackle school. It means she will miss her side’s second round trip to Cardiff as well as this weekend’s opener in York.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to prepare for the situation where sometimes we might be without a teammate,” Mitchell said.
“We’ve lost Alex through a disciplinary situation. We’re going to get illness, we’re going to get injuries so everyone within the team will be given jobs to do.
“Every player currently has got a job over the next two weeks to do. We have three jobs within the team and we just ask everyone to take responsibility for delivering that job.”
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The England team picked to face Italy at a sold-out York Community Stadium features a number of changes from the side that claimed the WXV 1 title in Vancouver last October.
Emma Sing and Claudia MacDonald have been selected to start a Test for the first time in 16 months, while Helena Rowland has not started at fly-half for England since 2022 and Mia Venner and Lili Ives Campion will both make their full debuts.
Speaking after the team was announced, Mitchell outlined his plan to use two teams on the road to England’s home World Cup.
“The girls have gone beyond that stage of beings selfish, which isn’t always intentional but it can be unless you understand how the culture wins,” Mitchell said. “Basically we’ve got to use it to our advantage. It’s a huge advantage, it’s healthy.
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“The Red Roses have never been a team that waits in my view. We’ve always been a team that looks to raise the bar early and set the standard.
“If you don’t have competition you don’t have people chasing each other how do you push and raise the bar? That’s one of our advantages and one of the things we will stick to.”
He added: “2025 starts with the end in mind. It’s important to realise we’ll need two teams to operate this year to play 13 Test matches. The planning is very much around that and it would be stupid not to plan with that in mind.
“So, we’ve got started with this team against Italy. It has an exciting mix in it.”
In relation to Rowland’s return to the No.10 jersey, Mitchell stated his desire to trial the “best decision-makers in the world” in the playmaking positions.
“I think we’ve had nines and 10s in the past two years that have probably been outstanding rugby players in the world,” Mitchell said. “But this year we’re looking towards having nines and 10s being the best decision-makers in the world.
“So that’s the reason why. I think it’s really important to give somebody like Helena a chance at 10.”
Mitchell added: “She’s an outstanding, versatile player. She played very well for Loughborough in the PWR and to say that she won a match [vs Trailfinders Women] through a drop-kick play.
“So, she’s extremely talented. She has a wonderful skill set and I think she’s looking forward to playing at 10.”
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Grateful to read Mitchell’s explanation why so many of the 2nd/3rd XV have been picked so as to get game time and experience to get in that 2nd XV. He explained on a podcast that the RWC squad will be 32 and an 18/14 split allowing for two distinct teams. Big fan of Rowland, she will go well and is a cross between Harrison and Aitcheson and just as talented.
Gutted for Matthews but them’s the rules. Helen Rowland is an outstanding rugby player, different to Zoe Harrison who is also outstanding.