Alex Matthews will captain England for only the second time in her career in their final pool match of the Rugby World Cup against Australia, among one of 12 changes made to the Red Roses’ starting XV.
Jess Breach will win her 50th cap on the wing in Brighton and Holly Aitchison will potentially make her first appearance of the tournament from the replacements bench with a victory cementing a top of the pool finish. The Red Roses have already secured their quarter-final place.
Matthews captained her country for the first time at the 2024 WXV tournament against the USA and takes on the skipper duties once again on Saturday despite vice-captain Meg Jones retaining her starting shirt at outside centre. Regular captain Zoe Aldcroft is still injured, while Marlie Packer, who captained last week against Samoa, is not in the matchday squad.
Breach, who took her try-scoring tally for England to 52 with a hat-trick against Samoa last time out, hits her milestone by retaining her wing shirt.
The head coach, John Mitchell, said of Breach: “To reach 50 caps for your country is testament to the hard work and dedication put in over a number of years, not only by the individual but by those who support them daily.
“Jess should be incredibly proud of her milestone and we’re looking forward to her taking to the field on Saturday.”
Aitchison has been named among the replacements after missing the opening two games with an ankle injury. If the Sale Sharks player makes an appearance every single player in the Red Roses 32-strong squad would have had tournament minutes before the knockout stage begins.
Abby Dow comes back in on the wing and is one try away from hitting 50 for England, while Ellie Kildunne rounds off the back three.
Morwenna Talling starts at blindside flanker with Sadia Kabeya back at openside flanker and Maddie Feauanti starts from the bench. In the second row the lock pairing is Rosie Galligan and Abbie Ward.
Mitchell added: “We want to build on our opening matches of the tournament and finish the pool stage with a good performance against Australia.”
England Kildunne; Dow, Jones, Heard, Breach; Harrison, Hunt; Botterman, Cokayne, Muir, Galligan, Ward, Talling, Kabeya, Matthews (capt). Replacements Atkin-Davies, Clifford, Bern, Campion, Feaunati, L Packer, Aitchison, Rowland.
