Gloucester Preview

Having won away from home at Waterloo on the opening weekend of the Tyrrells Premier 15s, Gloucester-Hartpury Women take on Wasps Ladies on Saturday in their first home fixture (kick-off 4pm). Mo Hunt will skipper the side.

Hunt’s return is one of two changes to the backs from last weekend’s outing, with Ellie Underwood named on the right wing instead of Bethany Randall.

There are also changes up front where Connie Powell will start at hooker, and summer signing Erica Mills will make her first start for the club in the second row.

Both teams took maximum points from their opening round matches, and Head Coach Susie Appleby knows that Wasps will provide a tough challenge.

“We were pleased to come away with the result at Firwood Waterloo. It’s always good to kick off the season with five points.

“However, we know that we can be so much better than we were last weekend. We’ve had a really good week in training working on the areas where we know we need to improve, as we know we’ll need to take things up a notch against Wasps.

“Wasps are a very good outfit. They’ve got strength in depth in their squad and are very well coached. We’ve had some very tight games with them over the past two seasons and I can Saturday going the same way.

“Hopefully, with a lot of new students starting at Hartpury University this week, we’ll have a good home crowd behind us helping to make the difference.”

Team:

15. Emma Sing; 14. Ellie Underwood, 13. Millie Wood, 12. Ceri Large, 11. Kelly Smith; 10. Ellen Murphy, 9. Mo Hunt (capt); 1. Ranni Samuda, 2. Connie Powell, 3. Cerys Hale; 4. Erica Mills, 5. Zoe Aldcroft; 6. Beth Lewis, 7. Tabs Copson, 8. Ti Tauasosi

Replacements:

16. Ellie Gilbert, 17. Elle Febrey, 18. Katie Dougan, 19. Shona Powell Hughes, 20. Sian Williams, 21. Daisy Fahey, 22. Beth Randall

Wasps Preview

Squad Announcement

Last week saw the return of Tyrrell’s premier 15s to Twyford Avenue for the first game of the new season. Wasps Ladies took to the field against Worcester Warriors and put in a strong shift to secure the win and promising start to the season. Despite an early lead from the visitors, tables soon turned with tries from Hannah West, Gemma Rowland, Cliodhna Moloney, Sarah Mitchelson and Lucy Nye taking the final score to 47-10.

This week the squad heads west to take on Gloucester Hartpury in a double header with the 2XV team. Head Coach Giselle Mather has named her squad and believe you me, it’s a force to be reckoned with. The front row remains unchanged with Cripps, West and Moloney leading the pack. Further back, Sarah Mitchelson returns to the starting line up and we welcome back Alex Powell to the second row!

Captain Kate Alder will lead the team from inside centre, with the addition of Katie Mason to the back three. And it’s sure to be a strong finish with a wealth of experience and skill on the bench, welcoming back Louise Dodd as a converted forward and new recruit Edel McMahon.

If you find yourself heading west, kick off is at 4pm at Hartpury #showup #feelthebuzz