England announces squad for the Women’s Rugby World Cup

• England have named a squad that will represent the nation at the Women’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. 
• Sarah Hunter will captain the squad that has six players from the team that won the 2014 World Cup. 

England have announced a 32-player squad that will represent the country at the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup. 

The squad, which Sarah Hunter leads as the captain, has 19 forwards and 13 backs. Sarah Hunter is the squad’s most capped player with 135 appearances.

Sarah Hunter. Photo/ ITV Hub.

England’s women’s squad for this year’s World Cup is a mix of new talent and experience. 

Six players in this year’s squad were part of the team that won the 2014 World Cup. The six players are Emily Scarratt, Laura Keates, Lydia Thompson, Hunter, Alex Matthew and Marlie Packer. 

The remaining 19 players are looking forward to making their maiden World Cup appearance this year in New Zealand. 

There is no place for scrum-half Natasha Hunt who was part of England’s squad for the Six Nations. Simon Middleton has chosen Claudia MacDonald, Leanne Infante and Lucy Packer as his scrum-half options. 

Other top players who trained with the team but have not been selected to participate in the Women’s Rugby World Cup tournament are Amber Reed, Vicky Fleetwood, Detysha Harper, Emma Sing, Bryony Cleall and Sarah Beckett. 

England Women’s Rugby World Cup Squad 

Backs

1. Jess Breach 

2. Holly Aitchison 

3. Abby Dow

4. Zoe Harrison 

5. Leana Infante 

6. Tatyana Heard 

7. Lydia Thompson 

8. Emily Scarratt 

9. Claudia MacDonald

10. Helena McKenna 

11. Lucy Packer

12. Sarah McKenna  

13. Helena Rowland 

Forwards 

1. Zoe Aldcroft 

2. Poppy Cleall 

3. Sarah Bern 

4. Hannah Botterman 

5. Amy Cokayne 

6. Sarah Hunter [C]

7. Rosie Galligan 

8. Vickie Cornborough 

9. Lark Davies 

10. Shaunagh Brown 

11. Abbie Ward 

12. Morwenna Talling 

13. Connie Powell 

14. Maud Muir 

15. Alex Mathews 

16. Laura Keates 

17. Sadia Kabeya 

18. Cath O’Donnell 

19. Marlie Packer 

England has a squad that possesses elite players in every position. And it will be a disappointment if they fail to win the tournament in New Zealand. 

Middleton is pleased and confident of the balance in his squad. The coach, however, insists that his team still has a lot to do so as to be fit for the Women’s Rugby World Cup. 

“We are really confident with the balance of the squad. I am pleased with the way the team is gelling and how our game is coming together. There is still plenty to work on; we expect to improve game-on-game.” Simon Middleton said.

England is one of the teams to watch out for in this year’s women’s rugby world cup. The Red Roses have won a record 25 consecutive Tests in a run from 2019. They won three of their matches in the Six Nations campaigns.

England’s women rugby team. Photo/ Capecare.

England are in the same pool as Fiji, South Africa and France. Their first fixture will be against Fiji on Sat 8 Oct at Eden Park, Auckland.

The Red Roses will play their second Women’s Rugby World Cup match against France on Sat 15 Oct at Northland Events Centre, Whangarei. 

Simon Middleton’s side will play their last Group C fixture on Sun 23 Oct at Waitakere Stadium, Auckland.