Home Sports England’s Red Roses hope ‘genuine friendship’ with men’s team can bring future success as Jamie George works with women stars ahead of acid test Six Nations clash against Wales

England’s Red Roses hope ‘genuine friendship’ with men’s team can bring future success as Jamie George works with women stars ahead of acid test Six Nations clash against Wales

by Alexander
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Members of the England women's team worked with men's captain Jamie George ahead of the weekend's clash against Wales.
  • Jamie George spent time working with the women’s team earlier in the week.
  • The men’s team hooker helped the stars with his throwing and line-out technique.
  • Red Roses boss Paul Mitchell previously worked with George under Eddie Jones.

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England’s Red Roses hope the “genuine friendship” between their coach John Mitchell and the country’s men’s captain Jamie George can help them achieve a Women’s Six Nations victory over Wales.

George worked with Mitchell when the latter was men’s assistant coach with England under former national boss Eddie Jones.

George has worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week, helping them with their throwing and line-out technique.

A crowd of around 20,000 is expected at Ashton Gate on Saturday as England look to build on their 48-0 victory over Italy and Wales in Saturday’s second round.

‘I worked with Jamie before. “He is a good human being,” said Mitchell, who is in his first season as boss of the Red Roses. “He was not forced or coerced by me. We have stayed in touch.

Members of the England women's team worked with men's captain Jamie George ahead of the weekend's clash against Wales.

Members of the England women’s team worked with men’s captain Jamie George ahead of the weekend’s clash against Wales.

George worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week.

George worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week.

George worked with the Red Roses hookers at their Pennyhill Park training base this week.

England women's head coach John Mitchell previously worked with George during his time as assistant to Eddie Jones with the men's team.

England women's head coach John Mitchell previously worked with George during his time as assistant to Eddie Jones with the men's team.

England women’s head coach John Mitchell previously worked with George during his time as assistant to Eddie Jones with the men’s team.

‘When I got this role, he told me that if I needed help, then sing. He encouraged him. It was pretty immediate. We are always texting about various things. I think we have a genuine friendship.

‘We are very lucky. We can have good cross-pollination between our male and female players in specialized positions. It is a good starting point.”

England should have too much for Wales. Zoe Aldcroft will win her 50th cap. ‘The girls really enjoyed it. They played a couple of competitive matches,’ England women’s team captain Marlie Packer said of her teammates who worked with George this week.

‘We don’t want to force it because men have their own agenda. It’s not just about the Red Roses, Jamie has helped some of the Saracens players. I wished him luck at the beginning of the men’s tournament and he did the same the other way around.’

INITIAL TEAMS

England XV: Ellie Kildunne; Abby Dow, Megan Jones, Tatyana Heard, Jess Breach; Holly Aitchison, Natasha Hunt; Hannah Botterman, Lark Atkin-Davies; Maud Muir, Zoe Aldcroft, Rosie Galligan, Sadia Kabeya, Marlie Packer (captain), Alex Matthews

Replacements: Connie Powell, Mackenzie Carson, Kelsey Clifford, Abbie Ward, Maddie Feaunati, Lucy Packer, Zoe Harrison, Sydney Gregson

Wales XV: Jenny Hesketh; Jasmine Joyce, Hannah Jones (captain), Kerin Lake, Carys Cox; Lleucu George, Sian Jones; Gwenllian Pyrs, Carys Phillips, Donna Rose, Abbie Fleming, Georgia Evans, Kate Williams, Alex Callender, Bethan Lewis

Replacements: Kelsey Jones, Abby Constable, Sisilia Tuipulotu, Natalia John, Alisha Butchers, Keira Bevan, Kayleigh Powell, Nel Metcalfe

Kick off: Saturday at 4:45 p.m. Location: Ashton Gate, Bristol

Zoe Aldcroft (left) will win her 50th cap for England when she starts against Wales at Ashton Gate and captain Marlie Packer (right) will also feature.

Zoe Aldcroft (left) will win her 50th cap for England when she starts against Wales at Ashton Gate and captain Marlie Packer (right) will also feature.

Zoe Aldcroft (left) will win her 50th cap for England when she starts against Wales at Ashton Gate and captain Marlie Packer (right) will also feature.

The men's team's veteran hooker, George, helped the player with his throwing and line-out technique.

The men's team's veteran hooker, George, helped the player with his throwing and line-out technique.

The men’s team’s veteran hooker, George, helped the player with his throwing and line-out technique.

England will be without Sarah Beckett for Wales after she was sent off against Italy and banned for three matches. The Red Roses will break another attendance record on Saturday as they take to the field in front of their largest home crowd in a match not being played at Twickenham.

“We are excited to play in front of a home crowd for the first time in this year’s tournament,” Mitchell said.

‘Having sold 18,000 tickets with two days to go before the match shows the appetite for Red Roses rugby in this country. The girls have been focusing on the opportunity that a game against Wales presents and we have been planning and taking advantage of this short week for some time.

“Every team will improve in their second outing and we hope to improve our game.”

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