England Women name squad for Nations Cup

ENGLAND WOMEN have named their squad to compete in the Nations Cup in
Toronto, Ontario from the 31st July to 14th August.

There was no tournament last year due to the Women’s World Cup so
England, as 2009 winners, will defend their title against the USA, Canada
and South Africa.

After impressive performances for England A in the European Trophy,
Victoria Fleetwood, Natasha Hunt, Sarah McKenna and Kay Wilson are named in
the squad and along with Laura Keates, who missed the Euros due to injury,
will win their first senior caps.

The five girls join a squad of experienced players who this year added
their sixth successive RBS 6 Nations title to their list of achievements
when they won the Grand Slam.

England Women’s Head Coach, Gary Street, is keen to make the most of
the development opportunity which the Nations Cup offers.

“The five new caps have a lot of potential for a great future.
This tournament allows them to step up without the stress of it being a 6
Nations or World Cup,” said Street.

“Whilst we want to win this tournament, our focus to be on
performance and their development. The senior players have an
important role to play in this.

“USA and Canada finished well in the World Cup and South Africa, who
now also have the experience of that tournament under their belts, are
developing all the time. It was certainly no easy contest when we
played them back in 2009.

“Our priority will be to work on positional units and maintaining a
structured attack under pressure. When you play against very physical
defensive teams such as Canada and the USA you have to work at a high level
of attack so the Nations Cup is a great opportunity to develop this aspect
of our game.”

The England Women’s Nations Cup Squad

Claire Allan (Richmond)

Margaret Alphonsi (Saracens)

Rowena Burnfield (Richmond)

Rochelle Clark (Worcester)

Emma Croker (Richmond)

Rebecca Essex (Richmond)

Heather Fisher (Worcester)

VictoriaFleetwood (Lichfield)

Sophie Hemming (Bristol)

Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)

Sarah Hunter (Lichfield)