Warriors Women have made three changes for Saturday’s Tyrrells Premier 15s clash against Firwood Waterloo Ladies at Sixways (kick-off 2.00 pm).
Former England Under-20 international Akina Gondwe replaces Lauren Leatherland at loosehead, while Jade Shekells and Vicky Foxwell form the centre partnership as the Warriors look to make it two home wins on the spin after defeating Bristol Bears Women 15-12 earlier this month.
Victory over Bristol coupled with a try bonus point at Loughborough Lightning last week has given Jo Yapp’s side fresh momentum going into this weekend’s contest. A brace of tries from England flyer Lydia Thompson as well as further scores from Sarah Nicholas and Lucy Lockhart secured the Warriors a precious point at Loughborough to set-up a mouth-watering contest with Waterloo.
“We’ve shown good improvement in recent weeks and we learnt an awful lot against Loughborough last week, particularly during the first 40 minutes,” said Warriors Women Director of Rugby Yapp, who took charge of Barbarians Women against Wales at the Principality Stadium last month.
“We showed great character to come back in the second half against Loughborough and we want to use that momentum going into this weekend.
“It’s a crucial game as we’re sitting towards the bottom of the table, with ourselves and Waterloo fighting down there – we know that Waterloo are coming into this game on the back of their win against Richmond and they’ll be on a high from that, so it’s going to be a really competitive fixture.
“We’ve been fortunate to be able to keep some consistency with selection in recent weeks and hopefully we can build as a team.”
Tomorrow’s fixture is headlined as Legends Day, with the Warriors paying tribute to former players who have wholeheartedly contributed to the women’s set-up down the years.
Yapp believes it is important to appreciate the history and traditions of Warriors Women, adding: “It’s a really important day for the club as to have the opportunity to welcome back former players who have given so much over the years is fantastic.
“The club wouldn’t be where it is now without those former players, and to reward them in such a small way is really important for us. It’s something that we want to continue to do year on year and it’s a really nice way to say thank you.”
The Development Team are also in action against Firwood Waterloo Ladies at Sixways, with 17-year-old Lily Giles set to make her debut off the bench (kick-off 4.30pm).
Warriors Women
15 Carys Cox
14 Lydia Thompson
13 Vicky Foxwell
12 Jade Shekells
11 Vicky Laflin
10 Sarah Nicholas
9 Brooke Bradley
1 Akina Gondwe
2 Carmen Tremelling
3 Laura Keates
4 Elizabeth Shermer
5 Lyndsay O’Donnell (c)
6 Sara Moreira
7 Taz Bricknell
8 Lucy Lockhart
Replacements
16 Carys Phillips
17 Lauren Leatherland
18 Gwen Crabb
19 Cara Brincat
20 Alex Callender
21 Zoe Heeley
22 Jasmine Joyce