The sibling duo of Emily and Flo Robinson will make their return to Twickenham Stoop tomorrow as Exeter Chiefs Women face Harlequins Women for their first game of the new PWR season.
Older sister No. 8 Emily stayed with the London club for six seasons, while Flo joined in 2023/24 after beginning her professional career with Chiefs.
They are part of a team that will begin the season with a plethora of England-qualified and, for the most part, youthful players.
Head coach Susie Appleby stated, “At the end of last season, we did blood a few young English players who are now pretty comfortable taking the field tomorrow. This weekend’s team will be young, with England U20s in the mix, which is great.
“We got Flo Robinson back from Quins, and she came with Emily. We’ve got Liv McGoverne returning as first receiver. Then there are younger players. We’ve played a few preseason games, and they went well, but we just need to temper people’s expectations.
“I believe tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun! Quins’ team was completely different last season, and so is ours. We have a couple of theirs, and they have a couple of ours that have moved up the road. We just have to see it as a continuation of our preseason and friendly games.”
All nine PWR clubs will be without foreign players for at least the first few rounds as the WXV competition proceeds in Canada, South Africa, and Dubai. However, two Canadian talents, prop Mikiela Nelson and winger Sabrina Poulin, have been named to the Chiefs’ bench.
Clara Nielson returns to the starting lineup after missing many months due to an ankle ailment. The remaining 23 players were chosen based on their performances in Exeter Chiefs Women’s winning PWR Up pre-season friendlies against Gloucester-Hartpury and Bristol Bears in September, where they scored 12 tries.
The first XV includes University of Exeter centers Naomi Brennan and Sophie Langford, prop Hannah Sams, and recent grads Niamh Orchard and Maisy Allen. Ellie Cunningham and Millie Whitehouse from the University, as well as Zara Feaunati from Exeter College, make up the additional youth on the bench.
Katie Buchanan is out due to a wrist fracture sustained during training. However, there is positive news on the injury front: Nancy McGillivray is set to return to the game later this month after missing a year due to a knee injury, and Claudia MacDonald is likely to participate before the end of the year. These players will make a welcome return as the coaching staff strives to keep the squad fresh in a short season.
Appleby added, “We now have six games back-to-back, which is pretty intense. We need to be able to look at the squad and see who works well together and who can transfer their training performance to the field on Saturday.
“We’re starting now and going without a break, which I like. I think it’s a good approach! It means we won’t lose momentum or interest from the neutrals who are watching the game, loving it, and will return to watch it again and again.”
Tomorrow’s game against Harlequins Women starts at 15:00. Tickets are available here.
Exeter Chiefs Women
15. Merryn Doidge
Eilidh Sinclair is 14, Naomi Brennan is 13, and Sophie Langford is 12.
11. Georgina Tasker
10. Liv McGoverne
9. Flo Robinson
1. Demi Swann 2. Clara Nielson
3. Hannah Sams
4. Poppy Leitch (c) 5. Niamh Orchard
6. Ebony Jefferies
7. Maisy Allen 8. Emily Robinson
16 Millie Whitehouse
17. Mikiela Nelson 18. Flo Long 19. Zara Feenati
20. Taz Bricknell
21. Lucy Nye 22. Ellie Cunningham 23. Sabrina Poulin
Read more news on:https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply