ENGLAND came away with the 2-1 win over Jamaica in the 2021 Roses Reunited Series over the past week. There were plenty of outstanding individual performances throughout the series, and Rookie Me Central came up with a 2021 Roses Reunited Team of the Series.

It features seven starters and three reserves, with the dominant Roses unsurprisingly monopolising the line-up with seven of the 10 spots across the side. In this hypothetical team, Nat Haythornthwaite captains the team after taking out Player of the Series, and was a logical choice in at wing attack.

We will run through position by position and who we felt was the best choice for the spot.

GOALKEEPER: Eboni Usoro-Brown

No-one is ever going to contain the unbelievable force that is Jhaniele Fowler, but Usoro-Brown got on top of her in two of the three games. Coming on in the second half of the first game, her body positioning and smarts often frustrated Fowler. The delivery inside the circle did not help the Jamaican tall, but Usoro-Brown can be credited with putting doubt in the minds of the feeders.

GOAL DEFENCE : Shamera Sterling

Another easy choice to round out the defensive goal circle, Sterling was the standout Jamaican throughout the three-game series. Whilst Fowler did all the scoring, Sterling was under siege for the most part, and though she did not always keep a cool head, it only spurred her on. She was able to really step up in the final game, earning Player of the Match after a stunning effort on a variety of opponents.

WING DEFENCE: Latanya Wilson

Played out of both centre and wing defence, the natural wing defence combined so well with Sterling and Kadie-Ann Dehaney in game three. The Jamaican had to be taken off briefly after receiving a warning late in the third game, but the fiery talent was consistently among the best for the Jamaicans. When Haythornthwaite got off the chain, Wilson was often in centre, but she paired much better against her in game three.

CENTRE: Serena Guthrie

The tireless worker played between centre and then in the final game, wing defence, with her intercepting and reading of the ball on court, incredible. She never left a drop of energy out there, and was a crucial link-up player through the midcourt, working well with Beth Cobden and Haythornthwaite throughout game two to really get on top. The steady micourter had another outstanding overall series.

WING ATTACK: Natalie Haythornthwaite

Haythornthwaite was the first automatic entry into the side, having won Player of the Series for her efforts. She was sensational across the three games, but particularly in game two where she took out Player of the Match. Though she started slowly in game three, she bounced back later to have some crucial feeds, and her hands and timing on her feeds were strong, and she was as creative as they came in the series.

GOAL ATTACK: Eleanor Cardwell

Coming into the series, Cardwell was facing stiff competition to get on court. With Jo Harten and Helen Housby returning to the side, she had to force her way back into the lineup 10 minutes into the second term of game one. She not only played her role, but dominated, switching from goal attack to goal shooter, and played well across all three games, to push Haythornthwaite as the top player. Her strength and consistency was impressive.

GOAL SHOOTER: Jhaniele Fowler

There was never going to be anyone taking this position off Fowler, with the 198cm volume shooter being an outstanding, and for the most part, unstoppable force under the post. The only way she would not dominated her opponents was poor delivery into the circle, and whilst this happened at times during the first two games, it was no surprise that when presented with the high ball, she was able to completely control her goal circle.

BENCH: Layla Guscoth | Beth Cobden | Jo Harten

The toughest part of forming this team was picking which players ended up on the bench. From a midcourt perspective, Cobden was the clear standout, earning a place over Adean Thomas who whilst she played well, was not as consistent. Admittedly Cobden did not play the final game, but her time on court was superb, and she looks to have really cemented her spot as that wing defence for the Roses.

The defence was the hardest to pick, with Guscoth eventually getting the nod. All the circle defenders were impressive, with Kadie-Ann Dehaney the next one behind Guscoth, but mainly because Guscoth was the better one in two of the three games. Stacey Francis-Bayman had some impressive moments, but the others had more court time and were consistent for longer.

In attack, Harten was chosen just ahead of Helen Housby due to the extra court time and her ability to lift more often than not. When the going was tough in the first game she stood tall, and then stepped up whenever Cardwell wavered. Housby had a couple of terrific impact plays, but over the course of three games was just behind Harten, whilst George Fisher did not have enough court time to be considered, and Latonia Blackman was essentially an extra feeder for Fowler.

What do you think of the team? Would you make any changes?