Team news: First team selection of the new PWR season
The first Exeter Chiefs Women’s match-day squad of the new PWR season has been announced.
After almost eight months away from league action, Chiefs Women return with a 23 led by club captain Emily Robinson, which features 10 players from the Rugby World Cup, to take on Trailfinders Women tomorrow.
Exeter Chiefs Women’s head coach Steve Salvin said: “Emily has done a fantastic job since becoming Chiefs captain. How she operates behind the scenes as captain has been really eye opening as she is so invested in what she does. She is incredibly humble and has the highest level of integrity as a person and is a role model for everyone in the programme. Emily represents our values of together, respect, grit and growth every day and will lead our team for the duration of the season."
World champions and Red Roses’ back-row Maddie Feaunati and winger Claudia Moloney-MacDonald are back in the mix along with Ireland’s hooker Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald and centre Nancy McGillivray.
USA Eagles’ centre Gabby Cantorna and loosehead prop Hope Rogers make it their second Chiefs game since returning from World Cup duty, and Canada’s women’s second most capped player DaLeaka Menin is back at tighthead.
Ready to make an impact on the bench are Menin’s countrywomen hooker Emily Tuttosi and centre Alex Tessier. while Black Fern Amy Rule is all set to make her debut for the club as Chiefs face a Trailfinders side that will be packed with new signings.
“Having everyone back and now being back into the PWR, it does feel slightly different this week,".Salvin said. “Ealing are going to have stardust in pretty much every facet of their game. We've based our analysis largely on what we've seen of them in the cup period, sort of banking on the fact that maybe they'll play a similar brand of rugby, albeit with a really significant number of additional players coming in that will add a huge amount of value.
“To some degree, we'll be playing it as we find it, because it's very hard to know exactly what's coming, but they've got a huge amount of pace and a huge amount of power. The one thing we know is if we are going to get a performance this weekend, we're going to have to be good in every area of our game.”
In other news, back-rower Zoe Dare is also poised to make her PWR debut after moving down from Gloucester-Hartpury in the summer and flanker Taz Bricknell will make her first PWR start for Chiefs.
Merryn Elworthy returns to the full-back berth after being side-lined with illness and scrum-half Flo Robinson has recovered from a shoulder injury. Winger Sabrina Poulin is also on the bench to play in her first game since returning to the club.
Meanwhile, Rogers, already the USA’s most capped women’s player of all time, will make her 50th appearance for Chiefs Women.
She said: “I'm excited to get my 50th cap. It's been a long time coming. I mean, this is my fifth season here but I was out a bit of time with a neck injury, so to finally hit a 50 here with Chiefs just feels good.
“I love being a part of the Chiefs. I love that they're my family and I get to keep working alongside the club to see how much we can keep progressing. It just feels like an honour to have taken the pitch 50 times for Chiefs.”
Last time Rogers played at the Trailfinders Sports Ground, she scored four tries for Chiefs.
Salvin added: “Hope has that real unique ability to score a huge amount of tries. From 49 games, she scored 48 tries, so there's a key selling point for any player!
“She's an immensely powerful player, incredible ball carrier, very, very good scrummager, and very good defensively.
“But the great thing about Hope is she's 32, she's the most capped Eagle, she's now going to hit 50 caps for us, but she is always looking to improve. She'll never say no to an opportunity to get better.
“She's a really, really good person as well. That's probably the most important bit that we have to get right, because if you are going to be successful on the field, you have to create an environment that aligns with that. Having the right sort of people in the environment is crucial to that and she would certainly be one of those.”
Exeter Chiefs Women will travel to Trailfinders Sports Ground for a 15:00 kick-off on Saturday. For supporters who will not be travelling, the game can be viewed live on YouTube. Chiefs Women will play their first home game against Gloucester-Hartpury on Saturday, 1 November (KO 15:00). Tickets are available here.
Exeter Chiefs Women
15 Merryn Elworthy
14 Katie Buchanan
13 Nancy McGillivray
12 Gabby Cantorna
11 Claudia Moloney-MacDonald
10 Liv McGoverne
9 Flo Robinson (vc)
1 Hope Rogers
2 Cliodhna Moloney-MacDonald
3 DaLeaka Menin
4 Emily Robinson (c)
5 Linda van der Velden
6 Taz Bricknell
7 Maisy Allen (vc)
8 Maddie Feaunati
Replacements:
16 Emily Tuttosi
17 Demi Swann
18 Amy Rule
19 Gabriella Nigrelli
20 Zoe Dare
21 Lucy Nye
22 Alex Tessier
23 Sabrina Poulin