Kildunne starts as England make 13 changes for Wales
Women's Six Nations: Wales v EnglandVenue: Principality Stadium, Cardiff Date: Saturday, 29 March Kick-off: 16:45 GMTCoverage: Watch on BBC Two, iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app; listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra
England head coach John Mitchell has made 13 changes to his starting XV to face Wales in Saturday's Women's Six Nations game at Principality Stadium.World player of the year Ellie Kildunne, who came off the bench in the Red Roses' opening-round victory over Italy in York, starts at full-back for her 50th cap.The 25-year-old is joined by Abby Dow and Jess Breach on the wings, with Mitchell reinstating a back three that scored a combined 18 tries in last year's Six Nations.Trailfinders' Dow returns for the first time since breaking her hand earlier this year.Captain Zoe Aldcroft, who starts at blindside flanker, and Exeter Chiefs number eight Maddie Feaunati are the two players to retain their places."Ellie [Kildunne] is who all young girls are looking up to at the moment as she is such an exciting player," England forwards coach Louis Deacon told BBC Sport."To achieve 50 caps for the Red Roses is an outstanding achievement but she has so many more games to come."Olympian Abi Burton, who nearly lost her life in 2022, is set to make her England debut from the bench.The 25-year-old back row spent 25 days in an induced coma after being diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, which occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the brain.
Line-up
England: Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Carson, Atkin-Davies, Bern, Talling, Ward, Aldcroft (capt), Kabeya, Feaunati.Replacements: Cokayne, Botterman, Muir, Galligan, Burton, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.
'She wants it so bad'
Trailfinders' Burton has impressed in Premiership Women's Rugby after appearing for Team GB's sevens team at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics."Abi [Burton] spoke to us a few weeks ago and I was blown away," Deacon added."I knew her story but not some of the details and I felt inspired. What she has been through is incredible. She is driven and knows what she wants."She wants it so bad, you can see it day in and day out, and she deserves her chance."Former England captain Marlie Packer is absent from the matchday squad after starting in York, as Loughborough Lightning flanker Sadia Kabeya comes into the starting XV.Wales, who finished bottom of last year's competition, lost narrowly in Edinburgh against Scotland last weekend in what was Sean Lynn's first game in charge.More than 18,000 tickets have been sold for the England game, a record for a women's sports event in Wales."I think they're so important to grow the fanbase," Kabeya told BBC Sport on the fixture being played at Principality Stadium."When we play Allianz Stadium, the amount of fans that we get in, friends and family, people who haven't watched rugby before, people who've just seen it on the train, it's huge and for the girls to play in stadiums like this, it's what we need, it's what we want."Gloucester-Hartpury's Tatyana Heard and Megan Jones rekindle their centre partnership, which started four out of five games to help the Red Roses win their third successive Grand Slam last year.Scrum-half Natasha Hunt and Zoe Harrison form the half-back combination, with the Saracens fly-half the only change to the backline that defeated Wales 46-10 last year in Bristol.England are seeking a seventh Six Nations title in a row before a home Rugby World Cup that starts in August.
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