England have amassed 131 points in their opening two Women’s Six Nations victories, conceding just five, but Wales will head to Kingsholm without fear for a meeting with the defending champions.
After two overwhelming victories on the road, against Scotland and Italy, England will play their first home match of the campaign at Gloucester’s stadium in front of more than 14,000 fans.
However, 10 members of the Welsh squad play their club rugby for Gloucester-Hartpury and visiting supporters are expected to turn out in force – it may prove to be the closest thing possible to a home game for unbeaten Wales without playing just across the border in Cardiff.
The head coach Ioan Cunningham, who recruited a DJ to play during Welsh training sessions this week, believes his side are ready to face the music against opponents who have won 20 consecutive Test matches.
“We can’t wait. We want to see where we’re at,” he said. “We want to compete against the best in the world, so this is a great opportunity for us. The players train and play with and against the England players week-in, week-out so while we respect the side, there is familiarity, not fear. It will be fantastic to play in front of a huge crowd which will hopefully include some Welsh voices.”
Cunningham makes five changes to the side that fought back from 19-7 down against Scotland last week to win 24-19. Donna Rose starts at loosehead prop, Sioned Harries slots in at No8 with the captain, Siwan Lillicrap, switching to blindside flanker. Wales also field a new half-back pairing, with Robyn Wilkins starting at fly-half and Ffion Lewis at No9.
The 18-year-old Sisilia Tuipulotu, meanwhile, makes her debut in the second row alongside Gwen Crabb. “We just want her to be herself and enjoy the occasion,” Cunningham said of Tuipulotu. “If she’s good enough, she’s old enough.”
England’s Lydia Thompson scored a hat-trick in the 74-0 dismantling of Italy in Parma last Sunday but the head coach Simon Middleton said she “picked a bump up in training” this week and is sidelined as a result. Thompson’s absence is one of seven changes to the England XV with Jess Breach returning on the wing for her first start since May last year.
Marlie Packer is back at No 7 and Abby Dow, who usually plays on the wing, starts at full-back. At scrum-half, Lucy Packer of Harlequins makes her first start after three caps from the bench, while Poppy Cleall moves to the second row and Sarah Bern comes into the front row in place of Shaunagh Brown. The highly experienced centre, Emily Scarratt, is back at No 13 to win her 99th international cap.
Sarah Hunter, who captains the side at No 8, believes two comeback victories against Ireland and Scotland demonstrate Wales’s spirit and the task at hand for England. “They’ve come from behind, which is a really tough thing to do, and that just shows the belief that they have in one another,” Hunter said.
“If they’re in the the game they’ll bring it to you, and they’ll force errors and they’ll make it tough. We want to be in a place where we don’t want to let them into the game. They’ve got a really strong set piece, that’s the heart of their game.”
Middleton agreed. “We’re very conscious of Wales’s set piece,” he said. “We were good last week, we were really good in lots of things we did, but defence in particular is one thing we can still improve on.”
