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Wales change six heading to England for Six Nations round two
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.
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.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments