Shekells handed first start as England change nine
Guinness Women's Six Nations: England v ScotlandVenue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium Date: Saturday, 19 April Kick-off: 16:45 BSTCoverage: Watch live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer and online, listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds, live text and video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app
Centre Jade Shekells will earn her first start for England as one of nine changes made by John Mitchell for Saturday's Women's Six Nations match against Scotland in Leicester.Gloucester-Hartpury's Shekells, 28, was part of the GB Sevens squad at last year's Olympics in Paris and made her Red Roses debut off the bench against Italy in round one.Former England captain Marlie Packer, who is one try away from 50 for her country, also has not featured since the opening-round win over Italy in York and returns to start at open-side flanker.Zoe Aldcroft replaced Packer as England captain in January and remains the only Red Roses player to start every game this championship after being named at blind-side flanker.Maddie Feaunati was a standout performer in the opening two rounds before the return of Alex Matthews in the comfortable win over Ireland last Saturday, but the 22-year-old Exeter Chief is back to start at number eight.Lock Rosie Galligan replaces Morwenna Talling to partner Abbie Ward in the second row, while props Sarah Bern and Kelsey Clifford are rewarded with starts following their tries off the bench in Cork.Hannah Botterman and Maud Muir drop to the replacements, and with Amy Cockayne going for a scan on her pectoral muscle, Saracens hooker May Campbell is named on the bench to possibly make her third England appearance.Scotland come into the fixture off the back of a disappointing 25-17 home defeat by Italy, meaning their only victory this championship was a narrow win over Wales in round one.Following three bonus-point wins, victory for England in Leicester on Saturday, with defeat for second-placed France in Italy, would guarantee their seventh Six Nations title in a row, before a home Rugby World Cup which starts in August.
Line-up
England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Shekells, MacDonald; Aitchison, L Packer; Clifford, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Galligan, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), M Packer, Feaunati.Replacements: Campbell, Botterman, Muir, Talling, Matthews, Hunt, Rowland, Scarratt.
Mitchell has opted to change his half-backs as Lucy Packer and Holly Aitchison come in for Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison.Saracens' Harrison has impressed in victories over Wales and Ireland to put pressure on Bristol Bears' Aitchison, who makes her first start at fly-half this Six Nations after being Mitchell's main starting 10 in last year's Grand Slam-winning side.Harlequins' Packer is the joint-highest try assist holder in this year's tournament alongside Harrison with four, and is too pushing for a regular starting spot.Full-back Ellie Kildunne and centre Megan Jones also featured with Shekells at the Paris Olympics and are retained from Cork.After missing last year's Six Nations with a neck injury, Exeter Chiefs wing Claudia MacDonald scored on her Red Roses return against Italy and replaces Jessica Breach to make her second start this campaign, with Abby Dow named on the opposite wing.Leicester native Emily Scarratt, who has 117 caps, is named on the bench after not featuring since the opening round in York.The 35-year-old was part of England's last World Cup win in 2014 and has featured in 52 Six Nations matches, losing just two.Scarratt celebrated her 100th cap in her home town with 10 points from the tee in England's last game in Leicester - a 69-0 hammering of Ireland in 2022."When you have those opportunities to come home, they don't come around very often, especially when you don't live in London where so many of my games have been," Scarratt told BBC Sport."It is a special occasion and there are not too many more opportunities to do that."The crowd is close to the pitch and we know what a crowd in Leicester is like. Hopefully that is in full voice and right behind us."England are on a 23-game winning streak and are chasing a fourth successive Grand Slam, with wins for Mitchell's side and undefeated France on Saturday setting up a Grand Slam decider at Allianz Stadium on 26 April.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
28 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Simone Biles' husband Jonathan Owens breaks cover amid Riley Gaines trans feud
Simone Biles ' husband Jonathan Owens has thrown his support behind his wife amid her feud with Riley Gaines over transgender athletes in women's sports. Biles and Gaines have been in a bitter feud over the topic since Friday, when the latter remarked about a photo containing a transgender high school softball player. The legendary Olympic gymnast's response was long and harsh, comparing Riley's appearance to that of a male, forcing her to pull back on those comments in a subsequent apology. Owens' first public comments since the feud began was not an additional statement. The Chicago Bears player opted for a subtle route to support his wife. On Tuesday, he posted a screenshot of Biles' apology to his Instagram story with three silver hearts to show his support for her. The defender staying in line with his wife amid controversy is consistent with her actions when roles were reversed. The defender's first public comments since the feud began was not an additional statement Fans attacked Owens after he admitted to not knowing who Biles was before they met on celebrity dating app Raya in 2020. Criticism continued last summer after he was seen wearing his partner's gold medal from the 2024 Summer Olympics. In a post celebrating his wife, the NFL player posed next to her with the gold around his neck and wrote: 'Witnessing history every time you step on the mat - Congrats baby on becoming the most decorated American gymnast in Olympic history!!!! Just wow!!!! 8 of them!!!!! So thankful I was there to see it'. Several users blasted Owens for his 'odd' behavior on the night, while content creator Kiera Breaugh even told him to 'take it off' in a video which racked up 2.5 million views on TikTok. However, Biles took to the comments section to hit out at Breaugh and other users for criticizing her husband, branding them 'so f****ng miserable'. 'Crazy thing is, I put my medal on every single one of my family members and took pictures,' she wrote. 'So don't ever make assumptions. Like y'all are so f****ng miserable. leave us alone'. It is yet to be seen whether Biles feud with Gaines is over, as it has contained a few twists and turns. The OIympian broke her four-day silence after her first attack on Gaines by writing on X: 'I wanted to follow up from my last tweets. I've always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. 'The current system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for.' Gaines replied: 'I accept Simone's apology for the personal attacks including the ones where she body-shamed me. I know she knows what this feels like. She's still the greatest female gymnast of all time. A couple of things. Sports ARE inclusive by nature. Anyone can and everyone SHOULD play…' In a lengthy apology, Biles also admitted she didn't have the answers on how to include trans athletes in sports in a way that keeps everyone happy - seemingly acknowledging how polarizing her criticism of Gaines had been.
The Independent
40 minutes ago
- The Independent
England ‘a work in progress' and have a lot of improving to do
Conor Gallagher accepts there is 'a lot of improvement' to make following a disappointing international break which saw England slip to a first defeat under Thomas Tuchel. England laboured to an unimpressive 1-0 victory over Andorra, a side ranked 173rd in the world, before slipping to their first defeat to African opposition three days later. Despite Harry Kane's early goal, the warning signs were there as Dean Henderson made five saves in the first period, but after Crystal Palace's Ismaila Sarr drew the visitors level, Habib Diarra and Cheikh Sabaly struck in the second half as boos rang around the City Ground. Gallagher, who was substituted in the second half, revealed Tuchel was calm in the dressing room after the game and is frustrated the next international window is three months away. The Atletico Madrid midfielder said: 'It was a really tough game, but we're still building. There's a lot to improve and there's a lot to work on and, as a team, we'll do that. 'I'm sure the manager and the coaching staff will look back at the game and see where we can be better because there is a lot of improvement to be made, but we're moving forward. 'He's calm. He's obviously disappointed and not happy, but he's calm with us. He knows we could be a lot better. 'It's a shame because we're away from each other for a few months now, whereas he would like to kind of fix the problem straight away, but he can't because that's how it is in international football. 'It's a work in progress and all the lads and the staff and the manager are all confident and happy with the progression. 'We have a lot to build on and improve and that's what we're going to try to do.' England were accused of not showing the right attitude in their narrow win over minnows Andorra. Asked whether they had shown the right application against Senegal, Gallagher replied: 'Yeah, definitely. I think we really wanted to win and I feel like we worked hard. 'I don't think we were great, if I'm being honest. But like I keep saying, it's a kind of work in progress and we need to improve moving forward and we're all happy to be doing that.' Gallagher's focus will now switch to the Club World Cup as he prepares to join up with his Atletico team-mates in the United States ahead of their first game against Champions League winners Paris St Germain at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. He said: 'It's really exciting and I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a great tournament. I think it will be really exciting when all the teams are actually there and the tournament starts. 'You want to always play against the best players and the midfielders. Obviously (PSG) had an unbelievable season, so you want to be playing against these guys. We know how hard it will be, but it's good for us and it's exciting.'
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The three Premier League clubs 'interested in signing Jadon Sancho' after Chelsea paid £5m to send him back to Man United
The three Premier League clubs interested in signing Jadon Sancho this summer have been revealed, according to a report. The former England star had hoped to reboot his career with Chelsea after falling out of favour at Manchester United on the back of a public fallout with former manager Erik ten Hag. Ten Hag had criticised Sancho's performances in training after he was left out of a squad to face Arsenal in 2023, with the player branding the words 'completely untrue' in a social media post that was later deleted. The situation resulted in Ten Hag demanding an apology, and Sancho refusing to give one - he did not play for the Dutchman again and went on loan to Chelsea after a brief spell at former club Borussia Dortmund. The Blues had the chance to sign him permanently for £25million this summer - a fraction of the £73m United had paid four years prior. They instead, though, opted to pay £5m to cancel the deal, with Sancho now heading back to United. His future remains unclear, but, according to The Sun, there are three English top flight sides looking to acquire the former England winger on a permanent deal. One of those sides is said to be Tottenham, who have the pulling power of the Champions League after qualifying for the competition by winning the Europa League. Thomas Frank is set to be announced as the new manager of Spurs, and could make Sancho one of his first signings, if the report is to be believed. Another club is Aston Villa, who are also in Europe, but had to settle for Europa League qualification after failing to finish in the top five of the Premier League when they lost against United on the final day of the season. Villa took Marcus Rashford - another United outcast - on loan for the second half of last season, and turned the forward's form around after he had fallen completely out of favour at Old Trafford, being criticised by Ruben Amorim. There is therefore evidence that Villa and Unai Emery can turn players' fortunes around, which could be an attractive prospect for Sancho. The third side is Newcastle, who, like Spurs, are in the Champions League. They have long been in the market for a right-sided forward, and Sancho fits the bill. It is reported that Villa are keen on a loan deal, but United would prefer a permanent transfer to make additions to their side. Dortmund - the German side who Sancho played for twice - were also interested in a move. Sancho took to social media to thank the Blues for his time at the club after it was made clear that Chelsea would not be making the loan deal permanent. 'Grateful for the experience,' Sancho wrote to his 10.4m Instagram followers. 'Big love to everyone at Chelsea who made me feel at home - team-mates, staff, and the fans. 'Wishing the club all the best moving forward. Truly grateful, thank you Blues.' The message accompanied a compilation of some of Sancho's best moments in a Blues shirt, including Premier League and Conference League efforts. Sancho struggled for consistency over the 2024-25 season, though he did score in the Conference League final against Real Betis, which Chelsea won 4-1.
