England Women’s A team announced for Nomads clash

by Julia Hutton


England A welcome back Claire Purdy, Natalie Binstead, Jane Leonard, Samantha Dale and Georgina Roberts for Saturday’s match against the Nomads at London Irish ARFC, Sunbury, kick-off 3pm.

The five players have all ran out for England in this season’s RBS 6 Nations with Wasps lock Binstead and Darlington Mowden Park Sharks centre Roberts making their England debuts against Scotland last week. Samantha Dale also earned her first England cap against Italy, while Leonard has been involved in the games against Wales, Italy and Scotland.

England A last took on the Nomads in February and lost 27-12 to an experienced outfit that boasted 854 international caps between them. Since then England A have bounced back and enjoyed wins over Spain (22-5) and France A (3-0).

With two consecutive wins under their belts England A Head Coach Mike Barnett is hoping his side can this time turn the tables around. He said: “The last time we played the Nomads the obvious difference between the two sides was experience. We were quite a young side, but now we are going into this game with more experience under our belts.

“Not only have we played two games since then, but we have five players who have had a taste of what it’s like to be capped at international level and they will certainly be wanting to impress again to get another taste of it.

“Shelley Rae, who was not available for the first Nomads game, is also back at fly-half and she too will add vital experience. At the other end of the scale there is also a call-up for England Under 20s player Emily Scarratt. She is just 18-years-old but is already proving to be a real talent so deserves her chance.

“Overall though, we are certainly a better team than we were a month ago with wins against France A and Spain to speak of. Those victories will certainly give us more confidence as we go into another tough game against the Nomads. This time we need to play with more maturity for the full 80 minutes and if we can do that I think we will give a much better account of ourselves.”

England A

1 Claire Purdy Wasps (C)
2 Samantha Dale Worcester
3 Rosemarie Crowley Lichfield
4 Sara Anastasi Richmond
5 Natalie Binstead Wasps
6 Gemma Sharples Worcester
7 Jane Leonard Wasps/Army
8 Sonia Green Saracens
9 Georgina Rozario Plymouth Albion
10 Shelley Rae Wasps
11 Fiona Pocock Richmond
12 Charlotte Boggis Exeter University
13 Georgina Roberts Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
14 Francesca Matthews Richmond
15 Vicki Jackson Lichfield
Replacements:
16 Samantha Jamieson Darlington Mowden Park Sharks
17 Monica Lewinska Clifton
18 Alexandra Stevens Lichfield
19 Lois Moulding Lichfield
20 Sarah Guest Worcester
21 Tina Lee Clifton
22 Emily Scarratt Lichfield