England Women’s Under 20s team to face Canada in Nations Cup opener

The England Women’s Under 20s team to take on Canada in the opening match of the Nations Cup in Toronto tomorrow, kick-off 1210am BST, has been announced.

Worcester prop Laura Keates will lead the side, who hope to continue the success they have already tasted this season. The England youngsters have already recorded back-to-back wins over Wales, without conceding a single point.

England, coached by Giselle Mather, will take on Wales again in the Nations Cup as well as Canada A over the next eight days with the hope of qualifying for the Nations Cup Championship Final on July 19th.

The starting line-up also includes Bath’s Marlie Packer, who earned her first cap for England in this season’s winning European Championship campaign, and Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt and Richmond’s Rowena Burnfield, who also played England A rugby this season.

Head Coach Mather said: “This is an exciting and vibrant side for this age group, with bags of pace out-wide and strength and power in the forwards.

“This is potentially one of the strongest sides that could have been selected and this is out of respect for the opposition. We expect it to be a physical encounter.

“Playing Canada in Canada is always an awesome prospect but the players are really looking forward to the encounter and ready to face the challenge.”

England Under 20s

1 Laura Keates (c) Worcester
2 Davinia Monteiro Wasps
3 Victoria Cornborough Richmond
4 Rowena Burnfield Richmond
5 Charlotte Wild Buxton
6 Isabelle Noel-Smith Bath
7 Marlie Packer Bath
8 Nicola Hoole Bath
9 Sarah Guest Worcester
10 Claire Garner Doncaster
11 Samantha Bree Worcester
12 Sara Mckenna Old Albanian Saints
13 Rose Fong Darlington Mowden Park
14 Natasha Hunt Bath
15 Emily Scarratt Lichfield
Replacements:
16 Charlotte Male Ivel Barbarians
17 Victoria Fleetwood Lichfield
18 Hannah Field Reading
19 Juliet Short Darlington Mowden Park
20 Rachel Fraser Morpeth
21 April Brown Saracens
22 Georgina Crabb Camberley

Under 20s Nations Cup Schedule:

All games to be played at Appleby College in Toronto

Friday July 11th
Wales v Canada A, KO 530pm
England v Canada KO 710pm (1210am BST)

Monday July 14th
England v Canada A KO 530pm (1030pm BST)
Canada v Wales KO 710 pm

Wednesday July 16th:
England v Wales KO 7pm (12am BST)

Saturday July 19th:
Championship Final KO 5pm (10pm BST)

by Julia Hutton