May 8th, 2008
The England Women’s squads who will compete in the Amsterdam and London Emirates Airline Sevens this month have today (Thursday) been announced.
England Sevens Head Coach Simon Amor and Assistant Coach Mike Friday have named two strong squads for each tournament, which includes a total of 263 caps between 13 players.
Two former England captains in Worcester’s Jo Yapp and Wasps’ Sue Day will return from international retirement to spearhead England’s sevens campaign as the team continue their preparations to qualify for the inaugural IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in 2009.
The Amsterdam Sevens squad, to be played on the weekend of May 17th and 18th, includes seven players who helped England win the 2008 RBS 6 Nations Grand Slam. There is also call-ups for Saracens’ Sonia Green, who has been a regular for England A this season and Wasps’ Heather Fisher who has also previously played for England A.
The squad of 12 will compete against a Brazilian second team, the Corsolettes (an invitational team from the Netherlands and Scotland), the Boudicca Ladies (an English invitational side) and the Norwegian Raiderettes (Norway) in the pool stages.
If England finish in the top two, they will then play in the knock out stages on Sunday May 18th.
For the London Emirates Airline Sevens, England will play a one off fixture against the New Zealand Aotearoa Maori sevens team on May 25th at Twickenham Stadium, kick-off 422pm. The NZ Aotearoa Maori sevens have a formidable record in sevens having won the Hong Kong Sevens four years on the bounce.
Former England Sevens Captain Amor said: “Amsterdam is a great tournament to kick start our sevens campaign. There are some really competitive national teams involved including Canada, the USA and the NZ Aotearoa Maori team. That’s good news for us as we need to challenge ourselves early on.
“It’s certainly going to be a tough tournament, especially as we could potentially play nine games in two days, that is three more than I ever played for England on the World Sevens circuit.
“I’m really pleased with the two squads we’ve got for Amsterdam and London. It’s great to have the likes of Jo Yapp and Sue Day back in action for England. They have the experience and leadership skills which are going to be invaluable. However, there are also some really talented young players in these squads who are also showing their leadership potential.
“All the players have been working really hard over the last couple of weeks and I’m really pleased with the way they are developing. This is going to be an exciting month of sevens rugby.”
Amsterdam Sevens squad
Claire Allan Saracens
Charlotte Barras Saracens
Rachael Burford Saracens
Susan Day Wasps
Heather Fisher Wasps
Sonia Green Saracens
Emma Layland Richmond
Sarah Marsh Wasps
Alice Richardson Richmond
Michaela Staniford Wasps
Danielle Waterman Clifton
Joanne Yapp Worcester
London Sevens
Claire Allan Saracens
Susan Day Wasps
Heather Fisher Wasps
Sonia Green Saracens
Emma Layland Richmond
Sarah Marsh Wasps
Alice Richardson Richmond
Gemma Sharples Worcester
Danielle Waterman Clifton
Joanne Yapp Worcester
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