England have a new captain in Sarah Hunter the Lichfield No.8, as Katy McLean is on the bench, when they meet Italy at the Centro Sportivo in Parabiago, Milan, on Sunday with kick off 2pm, local time.
Gary Street has made several other changes and there are first starts this season for Worcester’s Rochelle Clark, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks’ Tamara Taylor, Wasps’ La Toya Mason and Bristol’s Kim Oliver.
Hooker Amy Tuner and prop Laura Keates move from the bench to produce a new front row with Clark, whilst Ceri Large comes in at 10 to partner Mason. Wing Georgina Roberts is also called off the bench to start alongside Kay Wilson whilst Lichfield’s Emily Scarratt moves to full back.
Gary Street said: “I am delighted to welcome back some of our more experienced players for our game against Italy. They will bring calmness and experience to our squad and help to take our performance up another level, whilst some of our younger players [including] Ceri Large, Laura Keates and Izzy Noel-Smith will have the chance to stake their claim for the shirt as they start. We had a good result against Scotland to kick start our campaign, but there is a lot to improve on, including our execution and I will be looking for the team to do that this weekend. Italy had a good second half against an on-form French side last weekend, conceding only one try in that period, so we are expecting an even tougher game this Sunday.”
Team
15 Emily Scarratt, 14 Georgina Roberts, 13 Rachael Burford(VC), 12 Kimberley Oliver, 11 Kay Wilson, 10 Ceri Large, 9 La Toya Mason, 8 Sarah Hunter (C), 7 Marlie Packer, 6 Isabelle Noel-Smith, 5 Tamara Taylor, 4 Rowena Burnfield, 3 Laura Keates, 2 Amy Turner, 1 Rochelle Clark
Replacements: 16 Victoria Fleetwood, 17 Claire Purdy, 18 Emily Braund, 19 Hannah Gallagher, 20 Georgina Rozario, 21 Katy McLean, 22 Katherine Merchant