Sitting In The Cheap Seats

The autumn internationals are upon us and England head coach Simon Middleton has named his England squad ahead of fixtures against New Zealand, Canada and USA. Middleton has named eleven uncapped players in his squad which also includes a number of returning faces. Versatility is the keyword for Simon as players like Maud Muir , Flo Robinson and Holly Aitchison add not only their undoubted skill but also the ability to cover multiple positions. Alex Matthews and Helena Rowland return to the fold after their time with GB7s and are joined by Aitchison whose rangy runs and kicking game could well see her slot into the 12 shirt. Bombastic props Sarah Bern and Hannah Botterman are also back after time out injured and scrum half Leanne Riley is included despite having been injured herself for some time. Other notable inclusions include impressive Gloucester-Hartpury full back Emma Sing and a deserving call up for the ever-impressive Heather Cowell of Harlequins. Check out our video ...

With a strong win against Scotland in their pocket and a trip to Italy coming up at the weekend, it seemed like an ideal time to check in and find out the mood in the England Women camp. On Tuesday I jumped onto Zoom for a chat with Leanne Riley and Amy Cokayne , the Harlequins Women pair gave some great insight into preparations.

The Women’s Six Nations is back and, though we might not be getting the full complement of games, there’s still plenty to talk about so today, and every Sunday throughout the tournament, we’ll share a few of our own thoughts after watching the weekends action.

The news all Red Roses fans have been waiting for is out, we now know who the team will face of against in the group stage of next year’s World Cup and it’s made this weekend an even more spicy affair! England have drawn old enemies France in their group as well as rising talents South Africa and perennial world cup wildcards Fiji who will bring their usual flair and unpredictability. We caught up with head coach Simon Middleton and captain Sarah Hunter to find out their reactions.

This autumn has been all about experimentation for the Red Roses, with new players being brought in and new combinations tried out but there has been one ever present…Since returning from the Sevens programme Ellie Kildunne has grabbed hold of the 15 shirt and showed no inclination to let it go!

It’s autumn, the leaves are falling, Boris is about to put us back into lockdown and we’re finally getting to see the deciding games of the six nations. Last night England’s men secured the title and later today the Red Roses will go for the grand slam against Italy. We caught up with Zoe Harrison to find out how she has coped with this crazy season.

How do you build credibility into a brand new team? Aligning with an existing brand or club is a good start, it can give your team some identity. Reaching out to the community will help those roots take hold too. The best thing you can do though, is to build that personality on the pitch and show people who you are.

In a week that has seen numerous top tier rugby games (andsports in general) postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus contingency planningit’s a delight to know we’ll still be able to watch England strut their stuffin Twickenham on Saturday. Yes, the men will be running out at the stadium, butI’ll be across the road to watch the Red Roses face Wales at the Stoop. With 6 HarlequinsWomen players in the starting 15 we caught up with one of their number, EmilyScott to preview the weekend.

After a restful week off to recoverfrom the rigours of the Scottish winter the Red Roses return this weekend asSimon Middleton’s charges head to Doncaster to face off against Ireland. Icaught up with Lark Davies , the Loughborough Lightning hookerwith an eye for a try, to find out the mood in the England Women camp!

Last weekend saw the Red Roses secure an impressive win on French soil. The first for England Women since 2012, against a France team who had won 17 of their previous 18 games. With a return fixture this Saturday in Exeter we caught up with Gloucester-Hartpury lock Zoe Aldcroft to see how the team were preparing.

After a summer series over in the US that saw the Red Roses focusing firmly on squad development, and still racking up their share of wins, it’s time once again for the squad to set their sights on results. We caught up with head coach Simon Middleton and Red Roses & Harlequins Women try-scoring phenom Jess Breach to find out just how that preparation is going.