Worcester Valkyries winger Lydia Thompson has been named in the England Women Sevens squad for the second leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens series in Sydney on January 26-28 (live on Sky Sports Action and live stream via WorldRugby.org).
The Rugby World Cup finalist and World Rugby Women’s Player of the Year 2017 nominee is part of a 12-player squad for the tournament with former Team GB skipper Emily Scarratt, named as captain.
England winger Jess Breach, who scored six tries on her international debut against Canada last year and recently transitioned into the Sevens programme, is also named.
Team GB players Emily Scott, Amy Wilson Hardy and Heather Fisher are again included, having all played in the opening leg of the World Series last month.
England are drawn in Pool B and will kick off the opening day against USA, who placed second in Dubai, before facing current World Series title holders New Zealand and Japan.
James Bailey, England Women Sevens Head Coach said “We have a physical pool in Sydney. Every team will bring something different and it’s our job to recognise that and adapt, while still playing our own game and to our own strengths.
“This tournament format is unique with the team playing over three days. It’s something we have not done before, but a great opportunity for the team to show how they can adjust and also take learnings from the new tournament format.
“We learned a massive amount from the last leg of the World Series in Dubai. It was a great opportunity to benchmark where we are as a squad and what the tournament really highlighted was work-on areas, such as our conditioning levels.
England Women Sevens
Jess Breach
Abbie Brown
Lydia Thompson
Emily Scarratt (C)
Sarah McKenna
Deborah Fleming
Heather Fisher
Emily Scott
Alex Matthews
Megan Jones
Holly Aitchison
Amy Wilson Hardy
Additional players to join Brisbane Super 7s Invitational
Vicky Fleetwood
Katie Mason
Natasha Hunt
Schedule Pool B (all times local and games available via Sky Sports Action and WorldRugby.org)
vs USA, kick-off 10:44 (GMT 23:44 Thursday 25 January)
vs New Zealand, kick-off 13:50 (GMT 02:50am Friday 26 January)