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Wales change six heading to England for Six Nations round two
By Liam Heagney
Ioan Cunningham has made six changes to his Wales side for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations round two game away to England in Bristol.
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The Welsh were pipped 18-20 by Scotland in last weekend’s opening round and the reaction has been to change two of the starting backs and four of the forwards.
Sian Jones, who made her debut off the bench against the Scots, starts her first Test match at scrum-half with Keira Bevan switching to the replacements. Carys Cox is also selected on the left wing with Nel Metcalfe this week named as the 23rd player.
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There are two front row changes in the pack with Gwenllian Pyrs at hooker and Donna Rose at tighthead in place of the benched Kelsey Jones and Sisilia Tuipulotu.
Two other subs from last weekend, Georgia Evans and Kate Williams, come in at lock and blindside respectively in place of Natalia John and Alisha Butchers, who will both be replacements against the defending champions at Ashton Gate.
In a WRU team release statement, Cunningham, said: “We have made six changes to face England in Bristol and are under no illusions of the challenge facing us. We have strength in depth in the squad and this is an opportunity for the players selected to show what they can do.
“We need to focus on what we do and we had a robust review of the Scotland game and the players identified the areas that we have to improve on for this weekend’s Test match.
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“Carys Phillips and Donna Rose know the challenge we face up front, and Georgia Evans’ made an impact when she came on against Scotland. Flanker Kate Williams has trained well and been pushing for a place and deserves an opportunity to start.
“Sian Jones is very much part of this squad and a player we believe has a big future on the international stage. Carys Cox has been selected on the wing and has impressed since we came together as a squad.
“We have some real experience on the bench, and we expect them to make an impact but we are relishing the challenge we face on Saturday. England are the benchmark side for every nation in the women’s game and we have nothing to lose against a team that won the Grand Slam last season.
“All of this Wales squad play their club rugby in England, which is recognised as the best league in the world and we know they can compete at this level and are facing players they play against and train with, week-in and week-out.”
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Wales (vs England, Saturday)
15. Jenny Hesketh; 14. Jasmine Joyce, 13. Hannah Jones (captain), 12. Kerin Lake, 11. Carys Cox; 10. Lleucu George, 9. Sian Jones; 1. Gwenllian Pyrs, 2. Carys Phillips, 3. Donna Rose, 4. Abbie Fleming, 5. Georgia Evans, 6. Kate Williams, 7. Alex Callender (vice-captain), 8. Bethan Lewis. Reps: 16. Kelsey Jones, 17. Abby Constable, 18. Sisilia Tuipulotu, 19. Natalia John, 20. Alisha Butchers, 21. Keira Bevan, 22. Kayleigh Powell, 23. Nel Metcalfe.
This looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
I fear the damage may be done before the replacements, why not try and stay in the fight like they did last time out? They played really well into the final third, Snowshill (now retired), Bevan, Tuipulotu and Neuman had really good games.