Worcester Valkyries’ Rochelle Clark is set to become the most-capped England international in history as she steps out against Ireland this Sunday at University College Dublin (kick-off 2pm).
Clark will start and overtake Jason Leonard’s record of 115 appearances – equalling the record in the women’s game set by Valkyries’ Director of Rugby Donna Kennedy, who played for Scotland.
The Red Roses play again this weekend having ground out a tough 10-5 win over France on Wednesday night at Twickenham Stoop, with Amy Cokayne and Marlie Packer providing England’s two tries.
Head Coach Simon Middleton said: “This series is about replicating a World Cup environment with its tight turnarounds and world-class competition.
“Our plan was always to rotate the squad and look at different player combinations and I am confident that, with the quality and strength of our squad, whatever combination we use we can produce a positive result.”
After Wednesday night’s win against the 2016 Six Nations champions he added: “We were by no means perfect but we showed immense pride in our performance and a real will to win.
“It did have the feel of the first game of the season with players who hadn’t played alongside each other for a long time.
However I thought some of our game management and game plan execution was outstanding, as was our defence which came under great pressure at times. We look forward to building on that performance this Sunday.”
England and Ireland last met at Twickenham in the 2016 Six Nations, with the Red Roses securing a 13-9 victory. They have won three out of their last four encounters against the Irish.
England Women
15 Danielle Waterman (Bristol, 61 caps)
14 Kay Wilson (Richmond, 37 caps)
13 Claire Allan (Saracens, 33 caps)
12 Rachael Burford (Aylesford Bulls, 57 caps)
11 Fiona Pocock (Aylesford Bulls, 30 caps)
10 Emily Scott (Saracens, 13 caps)
9 La Toya Mason (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 57 caps)
1 Rochelle Clark (Worcester Valkyries, 114 caps)
2 Vicky Fleetwood (Saracens, 52 caps)
3 Laura Keates (Worcester Valkyries, 53 caps)
4 Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 95 caps)
5 Harriet Millar-Mills (Lichfield, 35 caps)
6 Alex Matthews (Richmond, 25 caps)
7 Marlie Packer (Bristol, 37 caps)
8 Sarah Hunter (Bristol, 82 caps) (C)
Replacements
16 Amy Cokayne (Lichfield, 17 caps)
17 Vickii Cornborough (Aylesford Bulls, 18 caps)
18 Sarah Bern (Bristol, 3 caps)
19 Poppy Cleall (Bristol, 4 caps)
20 Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol, 21 caps)
21 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield, 30 caps)
22 Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, 78 caps)
23 Ceri Large (Worcester Valkyries, 51 caps)
Old Mutual Wealth Series
England 10-5 France, Wednesday 9 November, Twickenham Stoop
England vs New Zealand, Saturday 19 November, Twickenham Stoop, 12pm
England vs Canada, Saturday 26 November, Twickenham, 5.05pm