Women's Six Nations 2023: Wales make two changes to face England
- Published
Lowri Norkett collected her fourth cap against New Zealand in the quarter-final of the 2022 Rugby World Cup
TikTok Women's Six Nations: Wales v England |
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Venue: Cardiff Arms Park Date: Saturday, 15 April Kick-off:14:15 BST |
Coverage: Watch on BBC Two, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app; listen on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Cymru; live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. |
Wales head coach Ioan Cunningham has made two changes for the Women's Six Nations top of the table clash with England on Saturday.
Hannah Bluck replaces centre Kerin Lake who has an ankle injury.
Wing Lowri Norkett comes in for Carys Williams-Morris, who is away playing for the RAF in the Inter Services rugby championship.
Uncapped backrower Bryonie King comes into the matchday squad among the replacements.
"The fallow week has allowed us to take stock, review and focus on what is ahead of us," said Cunningham.
"We knew we would be without Carys, due to her RAF commitments and we wish her all the best, but Lowri has been pushing for the jersey since the tournament started."
Wales and England have both secured bonus point wins in their opening two matches in the tournament, but England have a superior points tally after emphatic victories over Scotland (58-7) and Italy (68-5).
Wales backed up a 31-5 victory over Ireland with a 34-22 win against Scotland in Edinburgh and a record home crowd will be at Cardiff Arms Park to see if they can beat the Red Roses for the first time since 2015.
"England are coming to town and there is no bigger test," said Cunningham.
"The Red Roses set the benchmark for all of us in the Six Nations and around the world, and that's why we are relishing the task ahead of us.
"We are excited by the challenge and the Welsh rugby public have shown they are too with an historic record crowd at the Arms Park, our spiritual home in the Welsh capital city.
Wales expect England to pose physical challenge
"England have been professional longer than most of the teams in the tournament and the challenge for us all is to show we are now ready to meet that challenge.
"All of this Wales team play in the Allianz Premier 15s, a league regarded as the best in the world, and they have all shown they can thrive and be key players for their respective sides.
"Our performances against Ireland and Scotland have shown we can score tries, deal with adversity and show the togetherness and resilience of this Wales squad."
Wales: C Keight; L Neumann, H Jones (capt), H Bluck, L Norkett; E Snowsill, K Bevan; G Pyrs, K Jones, S Tuipulotu, A Fleming, G Evans, B Lewis, A Callender, S Harries.
Replacements: C Phillips, C Hope, C Hale, N John, K Williams, B King, F Lewis, R Wilkins.
