2019 Women's Super Series

England, Canada Gear Up For Colossal Showdown

England, Canada Gear Up For Colossal Showdown

England and Canada gear up for a pivotal Super Series Showdown

Jul 5, 2019 by Alex Rees
Canada's Ace Elissa Alarie

The Red Roses and the Maple Leafs have named their teams for Saturday's Super Series encounter at the Elite Athlete Training Center in Chula Vista, CA. 

Canada has one loss already, but a win on Saturday could put them back in position to finish atop the table. England, meanwhile, controls its own destiny for the title, and a victory over Canada will have them one step closer to being named Super Series champions. 

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England was ruthless in its 38-5 opening round victory over the Eagles, and will be well-rested following their week off leading into this round three encounter. Canada has been mighty impressive in its two games so far, giving New Zealand a real run for its money last Friday before putting France to the sword on Tuesday. This is sure to be a massively physical contest between two hard-hitting teams. 

Red Roses to show their depth

England will run out a side on Saturday that features some its key pieces starting on the bench. Stalwarts Abbie Scott (lock), Poppy Cleall (flanker), and Emily Scarratt (center) will give way to Cath O'Donnell, Sarah Beckett, and Millie Wood respectively. The Red Roses will be lead by a tenacious front row of Vickii Cornborough, Lark Davies, and Hannah Botterman, with the vastly experienced Sarah Hunter captaining the team from her No. 8 position. 


Halfback Claudia McDonald will link up with first receiver Zoe Harrison once again, with speedster Kelly Smith joining Carys Williams and the graceful Sarah McKenna to form a formidable back three. 

Russell returns to starting XV

Canada's most capped member on the roster, hooker Laura Russell, returns to the starting lineup to captain her Maple Leafs. 

She joins fellow veterans Olivia DeMerchant and DeLeaka Menin in the front row to bolster a Canadian pack that has been brilliant thus far in the Super Series. Gabby Senft, Janna Slevinsky, and Sophia de Goede team up in the back row, and will try to have the same impact in this matchup that they've had in the previous two games. 

Brianna Miller and Taylor Black have the duties of scrumhalf and flyhalf, with the strong center partnership of Sara Kaljuvee and Alex Tessier supporting them on the outside. Fleet-footed Elissa Alarie slots in at fullback for this one, and will seek to put in another great performance against a quality outfit. 

Keys to the game

Canada will need to bring the same toughness they have shown through two rounds if they want to take the game to England, but it would be surprising if they brought anything less. The Red Roses have a pretty simple, but very effective gameplan: bash over the advantage line with the forwards, create quick ball, and shift it out to the playmakers in the backline. 

England likes to employ a lot of decoy runners and late tip passes to get its forwards rumbling over the gain line, so the Canadians will have to do a good job with their line speed to bust these movements before they can gain momentum. The good news for the Maple Leafs is that they have very aggressive back rowers who have it in them to do just that. 


Prediction

This is going to be a hard-hitting affair that should see some really fine rugby being played all over the park. Canada has proven through two games that it is a force to be reckoned with on the world stage, and their performances so far have demonstrated that there is no opponent that will rattle them. England though will have had more than a week off since their last game, and it means they'll be fresh heading into this pivotal matchup. 

The stakes are high in this one; both teams trail New Zealand by one game in the Super Series standings. The importance of this meeting will not be lost on either team, and both figure to come out firing. In a tightly contested 80 minutes, the depth and freshness of the Red Roses will prevail. England 27-17 Canada. 

England

1. Vickii Cornborough
2. Lark Davies
3. Hannah Botterman
4. Cath O'Donnell
5. Zoe Aldcroft
6. Sarah Beckett
7. Joanna Brown
8. (C) Sarah Hunter
9. Claudia McDonald
10. Zoe Harrison
11. Kelly Smith
12. Amber Reed
13. Millie Wood
14. Carys Williams
15. Emily Scott

Reserves
16. Heather Kerr
17. Ellena Perry
18. Chloe Edwards
19. Abbie Scott
20. Poppy Cleall
21. Leanne Riley
22. Emily Scarratt
23. Lydia Thompson

Canada

1. Olivia DeMerchant
2. (C) Laura Russell
3. DeLeaka Menin
4. Tyson Beukeboom
5. Jacey Grusnick
6. Gabby Senft
7. Janna Slevinsky
8. Sophie de Goede
9. Brianna Miller
10. Taylor Black
11. Alysha Corrigan
12. Sara Kaljuvee
13. Alexandra Tessier
14. Paige Farries
15. Elissa Alarie

Reserves
16. Gillian Boag
17. Maude Laliberte
18. Veronica Harrigan
19. Courtney Holtkamp
20. Marie-Pier Fauteux
21. Sara Svoboda
22. Lori Joesphson
23. Anais Holly