A new-look England take the field against Samoa, with head coach John Mitchell making 13 changes to the side that powered to that 69-7 win over USA. With injured captain Zoe Aldcroft a confirmed absentee until the knockout stages, all eyes will be on veteran flanker Marlie Packer, who takes on the armband. Versatile back Helena Rowland will also want to make a statement, starting at fly-half.
For Samoa, the first stated first priority is to get to grips with the massive expected crowd before attempting to match England’s physicality. A throw back to a past era, with the team full of semi-professionals, Samoa do boast a thrilling offload game, if they can get an early foothold in the match.
Kick-off: 17:00 BST, Saturday, 30 August
Venue: Franklin’s Gardens, Northampton
For all those going to the game, check out Northampton Saints and England legend Phil Dowson’s top tips on where to eat and what to do pre and post-match.
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England team
England’s key player: In a much-changed line-up, Megan Jones offers fans some reassuring stability. The classy outside-centre played all 80 minutes against USA, making 10 tackles, completing 16 passes and making a mighty impressive 52m. Similar and more will be expected from Jones, who links up with new midfield partner, Jade Shekells – part of the all-conquering club side Gloucester-Hartpury.
Samoa team
Samoa’s key player: Number eight Nina Foaese is a powerhouse of Samoan women’s rugby. Aged 36, she has played in six Oceania Championships and two WXV tournaments. Now in her first RWC, Foaese will be keen to live up to her nickname, Xena Warrior Princess, as she takes the battle to England’s famed pack.
Head-to-head:
England and Samoa have met just once, back at RWC 2014 when England won 65-3 in the pool stage.
What they said:
England head coach John Mitchell:
“Firstly, we’re not going to get bored around being consistent and as much as we got the right result last week, we have standards to uphold, so the girls get challenged occasionally on standards because we’ve got to keep growing.
“Ultimately, I think the biggest challenge for the girls on the weekend will be we’re going to get space, we’re going to find it, we’re going to attack it, but we’re going to have to be patient with our execution in that space because we might get a little bit more space than normal. Sometimes you can fall into the trap of fool’s gold, and try and get too loose too early, so that’ll be the biggest challenge with this combination.
“In a world where listening and understanding is difficult in the way that we live life, I think I learned the other day that listening’s dropped by about 20 per cent in the last 15 years. On average people listen for 8.25 seconds, so I think we’d rather focus on us trying to understand what we’re doing and making sure that lands in the week.”
England captain Marlie Packer:
“Me and Meg Jones have massively stepped up this week. We’ve just been there to support Zoe (Aldcroft – the injured squad captain) in whatever she needs, but she’s also been doing the same for us in training today. Me, her and Meg caught up after the session today, just talking about a couple of little bits we want to work on as a group in how we want to be perceived, so we’re still just doing our roles as normal.
“I was fortunate enough to be water girl (in the opening match v USA). It was a very special occasion and one that I know will live with us for ever. We’re now just looking forward to taking the field this week.”
Samoa defence coach Fuimaono Bella Milo:
“We had a pretty brutal review on Sunday (after losing 73-0 to Australia) and think the girls really took that in. They were upset about the way they performed, so we had a lot of honest conversations about the way we prepared and the way we turned up. We thought we had a lot better second half, so we’re trying to take the positives out of that and move it into this week’s game.
“When you’ve got 32 players that have never played in a World Cup, going out in the front of a crowd of 10,000, that’s something we haven’t experienced. Playing England at home is going to be huge, and I hear there’s going to be a big crowd.
“We’re really looking to focus on our defence, trying to stop their first-phase attack then getting our systems round the corner. In terms of attack, we’re just working on hold onto the ball. If we can onto the ball, our big ball carriers can get into the game.”