England’s women ready for a new start in Six Nations clash with Italy

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/feb/14/england-womens-six-nations-rugby-union-italy-wales

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The heady days and nights, the text messages from Prince Harry and rugby royalty Jonny Wilkinson, the lifting of another trophy, the BBC Sports Personality team of the year. It is all over for England and Katy Mclean, who led them to World Cup glory in Paris last August. England’s women are back to earth with a bump.

The world champions face Italy at The Stoop on Sunday afternoon, where they will attempt to put their sobering 13-0 Six Nations defeat at the hands of Wales in Swansea last Sunday behind them. Mclean joined her team-mates on Saturday, having returned from Rio de Janeiro where she was playing sevens as England attempt to qualify for next year’s Olympics.

Life has changed for the 29-year-old Mclean, one of 20 newly created professional players in the England squad. Last October she said goodbye to her pupils at Bexhill academy in Sunderland and moved south to live in Guildford. “After the World Cup I went back to school for eight weeks until half-term. I owed them for all that time off. Life has changed dramatically. It was a phenomenal year. Women’s rugby got more coverage than ever and I won an MBE,” said Mclean.

“It is a new ambition to play in the Olympics but I still want to play 15-a-side rugby. Wales played really well last weekend but, if we can play our natural game and get the ball out to our quick back three we can still make an impression in this Six Nations. We can’t expect just to go out and batter teams. You can’t write any team off in this competition and Italy will be looking to go out and do what Wales did to us.”

Besides the retirees after the World Cup and the globetrotting sevens absentees, England are still coping with the fallout of the recent departure of Gary Street, who had been their coach since 2007. But their interim coach, Nicky Ponsford, believes the seven changes England have made this weekend can help put the Welsh defeat well behind them. “With Katy Mclean starting she’ll bring experience and solidity to the midfield,” she said. “There was always the intention to bring Katy back if she was fit.”

Bianca Blackburn of Worcester wins her first start at scrum-half after La Toya Mason was ruled out with an injury and another of England’s World Cup winners, the hooker Victoria Fleetwood, returns with Emma Crocker also unavailable through injury.