England Grand Slam winner Lark Davies will return to club action when Valkyries resume their Tyrrells Premier 15s season against Firwood Waterloo at Blundellsands on Saturday (kick-off 12.30pm).
Davies was a key member of the England squad that secured the Grand Slam against Scotland last weekend with a fifth straight bonus point win.
“It’s an amazing experience, especially playing with this group this season. We’re really on a journey at the moment with the full-time contracts being introduced,” Davies said.
“Hopefully we’re paving a way for other unions to see the full-time contracts are the way forward. To win the Grand Slam was a great experience especially to share it with your teammates.”
Davies will return to captain Valkyries at Waterloo seeking to end the season with a couple of wins after a break of almost two months from league action during the Six Nations.
“We want to go out and put in some good performances and hopefully the wins will come from that. I think wins are a realistic target,” Davies said.
“To go to Waterloo and welcome Darlington Mowden Park, they will be really competitive games and hopefully we can come out on top.
“I know the girls have been training really hard while I’ve been away with the Six Nations and we’re all raring to go.”
Openside flanker Alisha Butchers, who started for Wales against Ireland last Sunday, also starts for Valkyries with prop Akina Gondwe, wing Cara Clarke, centre Meg Varley and full-back Carys Cox back from England Under-20s duty.
“We’ve used the break in a positive way to get some work on the details and build some momentum. It’s been good to build skills and strength & conditioning work and keep developing,” said Valkyries’ Director of Rugby Roy Davies.
“I hope we deliver on what we’ve talked about and perform to the levels we’re capable of and represent ourselves really well. If we do those things we can get two results – it’s a simple equation.”
Valkyries Development XV are also in action against Firwood Waterloo at Blundellsands on Saturday as the second part of a double-header (kick-off 2.15pm).
Valkyries
15 Carys Cox
14 Lydia Thompson
13 Vicky Foxwell
12 Meg Varley
11 Cara Clarke
10 Megan Goddard
9 Lucy Lockhart
1 Akina Gondwe
2 Lark Davies (C)
3 Laura Keates
4 Stacey Maguire
5 Lyndsay O’Donnell
6 Laura Thomas
7 Alisha Butchers
8 Lisa Campbell
Replacements
16 Lauren Leatherland
17 Carmen Tremelling
18 Tilly Churm
19 Charlie Wilcock
20 Millie Williams
21 Vicky Laflin
22 Josie Symonds