Five Warriors Women players have been named in the Wales squad for this Saturday’s Six Nations clash with England at the Twickenham Stoop (kick-off 12.05pm).
Alisha Butchers starts at blindside flanker and Caitlin Lewis gets the nod on the wing, while Gwen Crabb, Ffion Lewis and Hannah Bluck are among the replacements.
The squad was announced today at an event at Cwmbran Stadium where more than 400 primary school girls were given a day-long taster of fun, rugby based activities.
‘Rookie Rugby’ events will introduce more than 10,000 girls to rugby this season, kicking off with a bumper week of large scale and school-based events around Wales.
Coach and former Warriors prop Chris Horsman said: “We know Saturday’s Test will be a huge challenge, England are one of the best teams in the world right now, if not the best.
“We always knew this would be a challenging championship and following a tough day against France, England will certainly be no easier.
“However, the girls are ready to test themselves again against the best, that’s what they want to do in order to improve ahead of next year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. We are fulfilling our aims of growing depth in the squad by exposing players to this level of the game.
“It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm of so many young players trying rugby activities, many of them for the first time.
“It’s a key aim of the WRU community department to grow the game for women and girls in Wales and meet the demand for more female playing opportunities along with other rugby roles. Increased numbers playing the game is certainly a key part in helping Wales to become more competitive internationally in the future.”
Wales Women
15 Kayleigh Powell
14 Lisa Neumann
13 Hannah Jones
12 Kerin Lake
11 Caitlin Lewis
10 Robyn Wilkins
9 Keira Bevan
1 Gwenllian Pyrs
2 Kelsey Jones
3 Cerys Hale
4 Georgia Evans
5 Natalia John
6 Alisha Butchers
7 Bethan Lewis
8 Siwan Lillicrap (capt)
Replacements
16 Molly Kelly
17 Cara Hope
18 Ruth Lewis
19 Gwen Crabb
20 Robyn Lock
21 Ffion Lewis
22 Hannah Bluck
23 Lauren Smyth