England Women sevens ready for Kitakyushu
England Women head coach James Bailey has made two changes to the squad that secured bronze at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast for the third leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens series in Kitakyushu, Japan 21-22 April (live via WorldRugby.org).
Commonwealth Games travelling reserve Vicky Fleetwood comes into the playing squad with Millie Wood, who makes her first appearance of this season on the World Series to replace players Emily Scarratt and Megan Jones, who were both unavailable for selection due to injuries sustained at the Commonwealth Games.
For Kitakyushu, England are drawn in Pool C and will kick off the tournament against Russia, before facing Canada, who England defeated 24-19 to secure bronze on the weekend, and Fiji, who England also faced in the pool stages in the Gold Coast.
England Women Sevens head coach James Bailey said: “What the team achieved in the Commonwealth Games was outstanding and showed how far the programme has come in a very short period of time. I’m really proud, especially with how the team showed their values throughout and the fight they showed from game one all the way through to the bronze medal match. It sets us up for an exciting future.”
Bailey added “At the start of the season we set out a strategic plan to peak for the Commonwealth Games and Sevens Rugby World Cup. We are now turning our intentions to best preparing the team for the World Cup in July. The World Series plays a pivotal role in helping us achieve this objective, enabling us to better understand areas we need to improve on and to make sure we are in the best place possible when we go to San Francisco later this year.”
England finished sixth in last season’s HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Kitakyushu leg and are currently ranked ninth overall in the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series standings.
England Women squad, Kitakyushu
Claire Allan
Jess Breach
Abbie Brown ©
Heather Fisher
Deborah Fleming
Natasha Hunt
Millie Wood
Alex Matthews
Vicky Fleetwood
Emily Scott
Lydia Thompson
Amy Wilson Hardy
Schedule Pool C (all times BST and games available via WorldRugby.org)
v Russia KO 02:30am BST Saturday 21st April (Local 10:30am)
v Canada KO 05:36am BST Saturday 21st April (Local 13:36pm)
v Fiji KO 07:58am BST Saturday 21st April (Local 15:58pm )
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