Latest news with #MiaVenner
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
John Mitchell reveals two Red Roses who could offer scrum-half cover at World Cup
Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has revealed that England are looking at wings Claudia MacDonald and Mia Venner as possible options as scrum half cover ahead of naming their squad for the Rugby World Cup on home soil later this year. Mitchell has begun the process of whittling down his wider squad to the 32 names permitted to be named in his group for the tournament, with England's selection set to be confirmed on 24 July. The veteran coach intends to take a split of 18 forwards and 14 backs to the World Cup, leaving positional versatility required in several areas of his squad. Advertisement Predecessor Simon Middleton took only two specialist scrum halves to the last World Cup in New Zealand, with veteran Natasha 'Mo' Hunt a surprise omission with MacDonald covering as the third nine despite operating largely on the wing during the tournament. Injury then struck first-choice scrum half Leanne Infante on the day of the final, leaving the relatively untested Lucy Packer to start at short notice with MacDonald playing half-an-hour off the bench. While the pair produced good performances, Middleton faced criticism for his selection gamble at the time and in retrospect, and Hunt has since returned to seize the starting shirt with Packer now her back-up. Scrum halves Ella Wyrwas and Flo Robinson are both part of the Red Roses training squad but Mitchell has confirmed that he is looking at the options that forgoing a third specialist nine might present. Advertisement 'I've already said that I'm planning on taking an 18-14 split,' Mitchell reiterated. 'That helps us prepare, especially in our units. And that just means that some girls will have versatile roles. Claudia MacDonald may provide scrum half cover (PA) 'It'll be hard on some players in the sense that some specialists might miss out as a result of the versatility that's needed in an 18-14 split. Claudia MacDonald is definitely being looked at as a scrum half option. Mia [Venner] also presents that as well. Mia also presents the versatility as a full-back. The outside backs, you've got to fit six girls into five, so that's going to be a challenging selection, but a good one.' Venner operated at scrum half earlier in her career and filled in impressively while Hunt was in the sin bin during Gloucester Hartpury's Premiership Women's Rugby final win earlier this year. MacDonald, meawhile, has battled back from a career-threatening neck injury to push for a starting place on the wing. Advertisement Throughout his tenure, Mitchell has made an effort to keep players fully informed of their place in the make-up of the squad and likely roles, something he intends to continue ahead of the World Cup. Hunt's omission came as a surprise ahead of the last tournament, with her exclusion reported in the press ahead of the announcement with a delay between Middleton telling his players and the squad being officially revealed. Natasha Hunt (left) is one of a quartet of Red Roses hoping to win a second World Cup (Getty) Mitchell is unconcerned about the prospect of a possible repeat of that scenario, with most players informed of his plans for them after a warm weather training camp in Treviso from 7 July to 12 July. 'I'm not really worried about anything leaking or when it is. I think that we've been pretty consistent. If you look at the group that's come in, the wider group that's part of the group, they know what's expected of them. Advertisement 'They also are aware of the intentions and the purpose of why they're doing things. Eventually, as we get down the track, everyone will know our pool plans as well. So we work on the people that are probably on the fringes first. That's very clear to them what's expected of them. They just need to be ready because if they get that phone call from me, it could be in a World Cup or a match, it could be in a World Cup quarter-final.' Centre Emily Scarratt is hoping to make a fifth World Cup, with flanker Marlie Packer also pushing for selection despite losing the captaincy at the start of this year. England take on Spain and France in two warm-up games ahead of the tournaments, which will both be capped internationals. A renewed list of Red Roses contracts is expected to be confirmed imminently ahead of the tournament.
The Independent
11 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
John Mitchell reveals two Red Roses who could offer scrum-half cover at World Cup
Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has revealed that England are looking at wings Claudia MacDonald and Mia Venner as possible options as scrum half cover ahead of naming their squad for the Rugby World Cup on home soil later this year. Mitchell has begun the process of whittling down his wider squad to the 32 names permitted to be named in his group for the tournament, with England's selection set to be confirmed on 24 July. The veteran coach intends to take a split of 18 forwards and 14 backs to the World Cup, leaving positional versatility required in several areas of his squad. Predecessor Simon Middleton took only two specialist scrum halves to the last World Cup in New Zealand, with veteran Natasha 'Mo' Hunt a surprise omission with MacDonald covering as the third nine despite operating largely on the wing during the tournament. Injury then struck first-choice scrum half Leanne Infante on the day of the final, leaving the relatively untested Lucy Packer to start at short notice with MacDonald playing half-an-hour off the bench. While the pair produced good performances, Middleton faced criticism for his selection gamble at the time and in retrospect, and Hunt has since returned to seize the starting shirt with Packer now her back-up. Scrum halves Ella Wyrwas and Flo Robinson are both part of the Red Roses training squad but Mitchell has confirmed that he is looking at the options that forgoing a third specialist nine might present. 'I've already said that I'm planning on taking an 18-14 split,' Mitchell reiterated. 'That helps us prepare, especially in our units. And that just means that some girls will have versatile roles. 'It'll be hard on some players in the sense that some specialists might miss out as a result of the versatility that's needed in an 18-14 split. Claudia MacDonald is definitely being looked at as a scrum half option. Mia [Venner] also presents that as well. Mia also presents the versatility as a full-back. The outside backs, you've got to fit six girls into five, so that's going to be a challenging selection, but a good one.' Venner operated at scrum half earlier in her career and filled in impressively while Hunt was in the sin bin during Gloucester Hartpury's Premiership Women's Rugby final win earlier this year. MacDonald, meawhile, has battled back from a career-threatening neck injury to push for a starting place on the wing. Throughout his tenure, Mitchell has made an effort to keep players fully informed of their place in the make-up of the squad and likely roles, something he intends to continue ahead of the World Cup. Hunt's omission came as a surprise ahead of the last tournament, with her exclusion reported in the press ahead of the announcement with a delay between Middleton telling his players and the squad being officially revealed. Mitchell is unconcerned about the prospect of a possible repeat of that scenario, with most players informed of his plans for them after a warm weather training camp in Treviso from 7 July to 12 July. 'I'm not really worried about anything leaking or when it is. I think that we've been pretty consistent. If you look at the group that's come in, the wider group that's part of the group, they know what's expected of them. 'They also are aware of the intentions and the purpose of why they're doing things. Eventually, as we get down the track, everyone will know our pool plans as well. So we work on the people that are probably on the fringes first. That's very clear to them what's expected of them. They just need to be ready because if they get that phone call from me, it could be in a World Cup or a match, it could be in a World Cup quarter-final.' Centre Emily Scarratt is hoping to make a fifth World Cup, with flanker Marlie Packer also pushing for selection despite losing the captaincy at the start of this year. England take on Spain and France in two warm-up games ahead of the tournaments, which will both be capped internationals. A renewed list of Red Roses contracts is expected to be confirmed imminently ahead of the tournament.
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Mitchell wants 'no regrets' from England at World Cup
England will approach this summer's home World Cup with "no regrets" says Red Roses head coach John women have been in their Rugby World Cup training camp since the start of June as they aim to win the trophy for the first time in 11 years on home faced two tournament final defeats at the hands of New Zealand in 2017 and 2022, Mitchell is not shying away from the challenge ahead."How do we get done what we haven't had for a long time?" the 61-year-old said. "We mustn't have been doing something right."I guess that's the powerful opportunity while this tournament is under our watch, it's an opportunity to have no regrets."So far, England's pre-season has seen the players put into teams to compete in "strong women" challenges, but New Zealander Mitchell has also introduced an "NBA draft system".He explained the draft allows players to "strategically let somebody go because you know what your group's strengths are. To me, there's a little bit of strategy in it as well. It just helps the girls connect". Players asked to double up The group is currently made up of 42 players that Mitchell will have to reduce to 32 for the World Cup with him choosing 18 forwards and 14 limitations on numbers mean that Mitchell is looking for "versatility" in his players with Exeter wing Claudia McDonald once again being looked to cover scrum-half like she did in wing Mia Venner is also being looked at in three positions, adding both nine and full-back to her repertoire which she has covered at club is aware that the need for players to double up will impact others: "It'll be hard on some players in the sense that some specialists might miss out as a result of the versatility that's needed." Getting tough in Treviso The last Red Roses camp before the Rugby World Cup squad is named will be in Treviso, Italy in is the first foreign camp England's women have been taken on, but despite the excitement the head coach is promising it will be one the toughest and hottest they have experienced."The heat will in itself create its own duress" said Mitchell, with temperatures in the region averaging around 30C in the summer."I think our tournament might be hot, so I think we'll benefit from that. It will probably be our most uncomfortable training camp of all of them because it will be hot and you'll get bothered."After England lost the last Rugby World Cup final after an early red card for wing Lydia Thompson, the coaches are keen to ensure no stone will be left unturned to prepare the side for all eventualities."The amount that we've layered on our game will put them under a lot of questions through scenarios," said Mitchell. "The unfairness that comes in the games through the cards, those sorts of things. The play-to-rest ratios will be probably a little bit lower as well. We can create a really quite niggly camp if you like."We want to be ready for any form of unfairness and it will come at some point. Look at the way cards and HIA's (Head Injury Assessments) have advanced the game in that area."We've definitely got to do it because it's going to come in the tournament. I'd rather be ready for every eventuality and even then, we probably won't be ready for every eventuality."If we don't create that exposure, then we're probably going to let ourselves down like the last World Cup." Rivals As England prepare, so do their rivals and Mitchell is putting plans in place for warm-up games with Spain and France, followed by their opening pool games with USA and a scare against France in their final Six Nations match in May when Les Bleus came back to within a point by the final whistle, Mitchell says they have learned from it."The French match has been a big influence on how we learn and evolve our game," he said. "We look at that separately from the other matches, because they're able to threaten us in different ways."He pinpoints the change in defence coach in the last campaign with Sarah Hunter being off on maternity leave and Nathan Catt taking on her duties as contributing to them losing "a little bit of our system" and since her return "we're obviously definitely refreshing that and bringing that back".However, any talk deeper into the tournament is quickly will not be drawn on commenting on either Canada or world champions New are considered the Red Roses biggest rivals for the main prize with Mitchell saying any matches with them are "too far down, we've got to earn that right".
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England begin Women's Six Nations title defence with dominant win over Italy
England launched their Women's Six Nations title defence with a commanding 38-5 bonus-point win over Italy in York on Sunday. The Red Roses are overwhelming favourites to win a seventh successive title and fourth consecutive Grand Slam ahead of this year's Women's Rugby World Cup on home soil. England opened the scoring in just the third minute when wing Mia Venner, making her first international appearance in five years, scored the first try of the match. Emily Scarratt, Claudia MacDonald and Amy Cokayne also crossed over in a lopsided first half that ended with England 33-5 ahead. But they had to wait until two minutes from time to get their next point when full-back Emma Sing added a try to her three conversions. England have now lost just one of their last 52 games -- but that sole reverse was an agonising 34-31 defeat by New Zealand in the World Cup final three years ago. They have been beaten by the Black Ferns in five World Cup finals, with native New Zealander John Mitchell, a former coach of the men's All Blacks, brought in to help England go one better. Mitchell, in a bid to test a squad that rarely gets put under sustained pressure by their opponents, selected an experimental team against Italy and was broadly happy with his side's performance. "It was a good start with some new combinations, we built really good pressure," Mitchell told the BBC. "We lost a bit of momentum at the breakdown and our execution probably let us down a bit, in terms of building pressure in the second half." Venner enjoyed an excellent start, both scoring England's first try and then setting up Scarratt for the hosts' second minutes later. An England penalty try was followed by Italy's Laura Gurioli being sent to the sin-bin and the hosts had their bonus point before the interval when MacDonald caught Holly Aitchison's cross-kick before scoring in the corner. Italy did manage a try through Francesca Sgorbini but Cokayne ensured the visitors' joy was short-lived when she pounced on an over-thrown line-out to score a try from close range. But improved Italy defence and some uncharacteristic England errors meant it wasn't until the 78th minute that the scoreboard changed again when Sing sprinted clear of the cover. England continue their Six Nations campaign against Wales, beaten 24-21 by Scotland on Saturday, in Cardiff on March 29 when the Scots are away to a France side fresh from defeating Ireland 27-15. Italy are at home to Ireland in the final match of the second round on Sunday, March 30. jdg/dmc
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
England begin Women's Six Nations title defence with dominant win over Italy
England launched their Women's Six Nations title defence with a commanding 38-5 bonus-point win over Italy in York on Sunday. The Red Roses are overwhelming favourites to win a seventh successive title and fourth consecutive Grand Slam ahead of this year's Women's Rugby World Cup on home soil. England opened the scoring in just the third minute when wing Mia Venner, making her first international appearance in five years, scored the first try of the match. Emily Scarratt, Claudia MacDonald and Amy Cokayne also crossed over in a lopsided first half that ended with England 33-5 ahead. But they had to wait until two minutes from time to get their next point when full-back Emma Sing added a try to her three conversions. England have now lost just one of their last 52 games -- but that sole reverse was an agonising 34-31 defeat by New Zealand in the World Cup final three years ago. They have been beaten by the Black Ferns in five World Cup finals, with native New Zealander John Mitchell, a former coach of the men's All Blacks, brought in to help England go one better. Mitchell, in a bid to test a squad that rarely gets put under sustained pressure by their opponents, selected an experimental team against Italy and was broadly happy with his side's performance. "It was a good start with some new combinations, we built really good pressure," Mitchell told the BBC. "We lost a bit of momentum at the breakdown and our execution probably let us down a bit, in terms of building pressure in the second half." Venner enjoyed an excellent start, both scoring England's first try and then setting up Scarratt for the hosts' second minutes later. An England penalty try was followed by Italy's Laura Gurioli being sent to the sin-bin and the hosts had their bonus point before the interval when MacDonald caught Holly Aitchison's cross-kick before scoring in the corner. Italy did manage a try through Francesca Sgorbini but Cokayne ensured the visitors' joy was short-lived when she pounced on an over-thrown line-out to score a try from close range. But improved Italy defence and some uncharacteristic England errors meant it wasn't until the 78th minute that the scoreboard changed again when Sing sprinted clear of the cover. England continue their Six Nations campaign against Wales, beaten 24-21 by Scotland on Saturday, in Cardiff on March 29 when the Scots are away to a France side fresh from defeating Ireland 27-15. Italy are at home to Ireland in the final match of the second round on Sunday, March 30. jdg/dmc
