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8 months ago
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England’s Red Roses hope the ‘genuine friendship’ between their head coach John Mitchell and the country’s men’s captain Jamie George can help them to a Women’s Six Nations victory over Wales.
George worked under Mitchell when the latter was a men’s assistant coach with England under former national boss Eddie Jones.
George has worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week, helping them with their throwing and line-out technique.
A crowd of close to 20,000 is expected at Ashton Gate on Saturday as England look to build on their 48-0 victory over Italy against Wales in round two on Saturday.
‘I worked with Jamie before. He’s a good human being,’ said Mitchell, who is in his first campaign as Red Roses boss. 'It wasn’t forced or coerced by me. We’ve kept in touch.
Members of England's women's team worked with men's captain Jamie George ahead of their weekend clash against Wales
George worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week
England women's head coach John Mitchell previously worked with George during his time as Eddie Jones' assistant with the men's side
‘When I got this role he said if I needed any help, then sing out. He encouraged it. It was pretty immediate. We’re always texting anyway on various things. I think we have a genuine friendship.
‘We’re very lucky. We can have a good cross-pollination between our men’s and women’s players in specialist positions. It’s a good starting point.’
England should have too much for Wales. Zoe Aldcroft will win her 50 cap. ‘The girls really enjoyed it. They did a couple of competitive games,’ England Women’s captain Marlie Packer said of her team-mates working with George this week.
‘We don’t want to force it as the men have their own programme. It’s not just about the Red Roses, Jamie has helped some of the players at Saracens. I wished him luck at the beginning of the men’s tournament and he did the same the other way round.’
STARTING TEAMS
England XV: Ellie Kildunne; Abby Dow, Megan Jones, Tatyana Heard, Jess Breach; Holly Aitchison, Natasha Hunt; Hannah Botterman, Lark Atkin-Davies; Maud Muir, Zoe Aldcroft, Rosie Galligan, Sadia Kabeya, Marlie Packer (capt), Alex Matthews
Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Abbie Ward, Maddie Feaunati, Lucy Packer, Zoe Harrison, Sydney Gregson
Wales XV: Jenny Hesketh; Jasmine Joyce, Hannah Jones (captain), Kerin Lake, Carys Cox; Lleucu George, Sian Jones; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Donna Rose, Abbie Fleming, Georgia Evans, Kate Williams, Alex Callender, Bethan Lewis
Replacements: Kelsey Jones, Abby Constable, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Natalia John, Alisha Butchers, Keira Bevan, Kayleigh Powell, Nel Metcalfe
Kick-off: 4.45pm SaturdayVenue: Ashton Gate, Bristol
Zoe Aldcroft (left) will win her 50 cap with England when she starts against Wales at Ashton Gate with captain Marlie Packer (right) also set to feature
The veteran men's team hooker, George, helped player with their throwing and line-out technique
England are without Sarah Beckett for Wales after she was sent off against Italy and hit with a three-match ban. The Red Roses will break another attendance record on Saturday by taking to the field in front of their largest ever home crowd in a fixture not played at Twickenham.
‘We’re excited to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in this year’s tournament,’ Mitchell said.
‘To have sold 18,000 tickets with two days to go until matchday shows the appetite for Red Roses rugby in this country. The girls have been focused on the opportunity a match against Wales presents and we have been planning and building on this short week for some time.
‘All teams will be better for their second outing and we’re looking forward to improving our game.’
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