Liz Crake goes from dentist chair to grand slam decider as England look for bite

• Two-cap veteran picked on bench against France

• Forward had contract but returned to dentistry career

Dentist and lecturer Liz Crake has been named on the bench for England’s grand slam decider against France on Sunday as Kelsey Clifford has been ruled out with injury.

Crake, who has two caps, was called into the squad after Hannah Botterman was ruled out of the entire Six Nations with an ankle issue. Second-choice loosehead prop Clifford picked up a leg injury against Italy last weekend and so Mackenzie Carson will start and the head coach, John Mitchell, who said he has had been forced into 20 player changes across the tournament because of pregnancy and injury, is having to test his side’s depth.

Crake, 31, did have a contract with England in the 2024-25 season but has had to turn back to dentistry for this campaign. She is not the only part-time professional player to compete for the Red Roses during this Six Nations. Christiana Balogun, who works as a recruitment consultant, came off of the bench against Italy because of an injury to Maddie Feaunati.

The Rugby Football Union has 32 full-time contracts in place for Red Roses players. Those who are not contracted get paid for the days they are in camp and a matchday fee.

The captain Meg Jones said: “The players [Crake and Balogun] are full of resilience, the way they are able to come in and switch on and switch off based on their other circumstances as well. It’s definitely probably one of those things that you take for granted when you’ve been in it [professionalism] for so long.

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