Home comforts for Muir and Heard as England begin ‘challenging but exciting’ preparations for WXV defence
Maud Muir is one of a host of Gloucester-Hartpury players who will be in familiar surroundings this weekend
©RFU Collection via Getty Images
Saturday marks the return of the Red Roses to the international stage as they take on France at Kingsholm in the first of two warm-up games ahead of WXV1.
Les Bleues were the last team England played back in April where they clinched the Six Nations Grand Slam with a comfortable 42-21 victory in Bordeaux.
Following France, John Mitchell’s side then face fierce rivals and the number two ranked side in the world New Zealand in the first Test match at the newly branded 'Allianz Stadium'.
It is now less than a year until the home World Cup begins for England and with the ultimate prize on the horizon, starting off with wins against two of the top-ranked sides in the world will be vital for the Red Roses.
With Gloucester-Hartpury currently the reigning Premiership Women’s Rugby champions, there is a strong contingent of players within Mitchell’s squad and, unsurprisingly, they are relishing the opportunity to play in front of their home support against France this weekend.
Gloucester-Hartpury prop Maud Muir told TRU: “It’s a really special opportunity to play at Kingsholm. I remember playing there against Wales in the Six Nations two years ago, and it was terrific.
“‘The Shed’ is a fantastic part of the club. It’s a fantastic atmosphere. They can be the 16th player at times. They really rally behind the team and you can definitely hear them.
“Rugby is special in the area. Walking through town, you will always see someone in a Gloucester shirt, and we’re excited to bring the women’s international game back there.”
Fellow Red Rose and Gloucester-Hartpury teammate Tatyana Heard added: “The Gloucester faithful are incredible. Nothing beats when ‘The Shed’ is full. It’s an incredible environment to be around that level of noise and support, and it’s really cool that we, as a Red Roses squad, will get to experience that.
“Equally, I think having the Red Roses at Kingsholm could bring in even more fans, which is a very exciting prospect.”
Putting fixtures against France and New Zealand under the umbrella of ‘friendlies’ doesn’t seem right when discussing the Red Roses considering the recent battles England have had against the two nations.
Not only did Mitchell’s troops beat France back in April, but they also defeated the Black Ferns in Auckland last year to seal the WXV1 title - which they will look to defend in Canada this autumn.
Muir added: “Normally, warm-up games like this would be against slightly lower-ranked opposition, but I think it will be a big test in these two fixtures. We’re expecting it to be tough, but it’s very exciting.
“The challenge is massive, and we’ve prepared well, but we understand that anything can happen in the first game of a season.”
Despite the scoreline against France last time out, Mitchell explained a couple of weeks ago that France put a lot of pressure on his side. Not only that, but his squad weren't entirely accurate when it came to their execution.
Talking about the challenges France will pose on Saturday, Muir continued: “I think they’ll throw things at us that we won’t expect. They're always a very physical side, they like to keep the ball in hand and then play it wide.
“We want to put a full 80-minute performance out because last time, we definitely didn’t perform as well in the second half so the critical thing for us is keeping the pressure on the entire match.
There was also a noticeable shift in the Red Roses’ style of play against France back in April. Whilst the previous games in the Six Nations campaign had been littered with free-flowing attacking rugby, the battle in Bordeaux was much more of a physical contest.
“I felt like I made so many tackles and carries into contact that game,” added Muir. “It was extremely tough and the back three definitely felt they didn’t have their hands on the ball as much as they would have liked.
“We definitely just had to truck it up the middle and lots of set pieces, but our aim this Saturday is to allow them [the Red Roses back three] a bit more possession.
“We’re aiming for a good performance, and hopefully, that will lead to a positive result on the scoreboard for us, but I think if we play well, that's our main objective.”
The Red Roses’ recent history against France has been outstanding. Despite being bitter rivals and one of the top teams in the world rankings, England haven’t lost to their foes from across the channel for six years.
“It’s just such a huge rivalry,” Heard explained. “There have always been close results, and they always test us to our maximum. They have so many world-class players, and because we get the opportunity to play them regularly, it poses a huge opportunity every time we play them to test ourselves.
“There’s so much focus in camp on our own game and how we want to go about improving and better our performance from the previous game. So much of our focus is all on ourselves, and whilst we do our analysis on opposition, it’s primarily about how our game can get better.
“Everyone wants to be the best and wear the shirt, so there’s so much competition within that which means no one can afford to be complacent in this environment.”
