Carmela Morrall to use Six Nations Women’s U21 Series as springboard

Carmela Morrall believes England’s aspiring Red Roses can use their experiences in the Six Nations Women’s U21 Series as a springboard to bigger things.

England began the tournament with a 51-12 victory over Scotland but slipped to consecutive losses against Ireland and France – two sides who finished the competition unbeaten

Morrall was named co-captain alongside Sophie McQueen for the team’s 71-17 loss to France in Bedford, before joining up with the Red Roses training squad ahead of this weekend’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam decider in Bordeaux.

The Loughborough Lightning centre said: “There have been elements we have been really pleased with. Obviously, we didn’t come out with the results we were hoping for in a couple of the games, but we’re proud of our performances more than anything.

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“This year, especially, we had a lot of new girls in. We took a photo with all of the original players from three seasons ago and there were only five or six of us left.

“It’s definitely been a learning journey, but there’s a lot of positivity and hope for the future that we can keep pushing in that age grade, because there are a lot of good players coming through the pathway.

“This year has been a perfect example. There are a lot of girls in the Red Roses camp who are eligible for the U21s and they have had their opportunity because of injuries and their performances in the PWR.”

Bristol Bears winger Millie David and second row Demelza Short are among those to have debuted for the senior side in recent weeks, despite being just 20 and 19 years old respectively.

And Trailfinders Women’s Grace White dazzled from the wing in their loss to France, scoring two tries after mazy runs into the corner.

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Reflecting on her own performances in the U21 Series, Morrall said: “At the moment, I’m good at putting others in space, but there’s potential for me to develop that myself, to put myself in that space. I started to do that more in camp with the Roses, but it’s now about transferring that into PWR.

“To begin with, it was tough coming into the senior camp. The way the girls here train, with such intensity and speed, was a shock, even a step up from the PWR.

“Now that I have started to get more comfortable, it’s a good opportunity to take things I have learned here into an U21s environment, and when I go back to my club, I can put that into PWR.”