England Womens squad announced for San Diego Sevens
England Head Coach Simon Amor has named an experienced line-up for the tournament which kicks-off just three weeks before the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai (March 5-7).
Wasps player Sue Day has been named as captain of a sevens squad that includes former England captain Jo Yapp, and England's vice captain in the XVs game Rachael Burford.
The San Diego Sevens will feature several teams that will also be competing for World Cup glory in March, including New Zealand, USA and Canada.
England will, in fact, play against two of their Rugby World Cup pool rivals in the San Diego Sevens pool stages. They will take on the USA and Japan on February 13th.
Amor said: "In an ideal world, I would have liked another tournament before the Rugby World Cup to try out some more players in our sevens squad. That said this is an excellent tournament to be our final test.
"The San Diego Sevens is ideal preparation because of the standard of the tournament. All the teams competing will be at the Rugby World Cup. That is going to give us three tough pool games just to get through to the latter stages of the tournament."
Amor added: "We have been making really good progress. There are still a few areas to work on, but the players know this and their success in previous tournaments is testament to their hard work and commitment.
"Our entire sevens year has been about the Rugby World Cup, and we are at the stage where performance is more important than outcome but obviously we are going to San Diego to give it our best shot."
England San Diego Sevens Squad
Sue Day Wasps C Maggie Alphonsi Saracens Heather Fisher Wasps Emma Layland Richmond Sarah Beale Lichfield Jo Yapp Worcester Rachael Burford Saracens Danielle Waterman Blaydon Team Northumbria Claire Allan Saracens Kat Merchant Worcester Michaela Staniford Wasps Charlotte Barras Saracens
San Diego Sevens Schedule:
Friday February 13th Pool Stages: England v Japan England v USA 2 England v USA1 Semi-final
