Richmond’s Alice Richardson will captain England for the first leg of
the European Women’s Sevens Series in the Netherlands on June 16-17.
Richardson takes over the captaincy armband from Michaela Staniford who is
being rested ahead of the second round later this month in Moscow (June
30-July 1st), which also doubles up as a Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013
qualifying event.
Richardson, who has 32 caps in the XVs game, will lead a side which
includes two players making their England Sevens debuts. Darlington Mowden
Park Sharks’ Ruth Laybourn and Bristol’s Sally Tuson has been
involved in the Sevens set-up for a year, and most recently made their
England XVs debut in last month’s European Championship. Both players
impressed during England’s winning campaign and will now get their
chance to show what they can do on the international sevens stage.
Heather Fisher, Sarah Guest and Emily Scarratt also return to the squad,
while Danielle Waterman, who recently returned from injury to compete in the
XVs European Championship, has been named as vice-captain. There is also a
call-up for Jane Leonard, who returns after a long injury lay-off.
England Women’s Sevens Head Coach Barry Maddocks said: “Once
again we have made some changes to this squad, resting players such as
Michaela Staniford and Joanne Watmore, and at the same time bringing in some
new players to the fold, who have recently impressed in the XVs game. Alice
Richardson will captain the side and this will be her chance to bring her
leadership skills to the fore.
“It is also great to welcome back players like Heather Fisher and
Jane Leonard who are powerful and impactful players while Danielle Waterman
proved she is back to her best in the XVs recently. Natasha Brennan and Kate
Hancock have another chance to build on their performances in Amsterdam last
month, while it will be interesting to see how Sally Tuson and Ruth Laybourn
go in their first international sevens tournament.”
12 of the best European Sevens teams will compete over the two day
tournament on Ameland Island hoping to secure as many tournament points as
possible ahead of the second round and World Cup qualifying event later this
month. England have been drawn in Pool A and will face France, Russia,
Italy, Switzerland and Sweden in a competitive group.
Maddocks added: “This is another tough pool for us and we will
undoubtedly be tested. Italy are a good footballing side, Russia are strong
athletes who are always difficult to play against whilst France can be
seriously impressive on their day. We’ll certainly need to take our
opportunities to rack up as many points as we can ahead of the second round
in Moscow.”
England
Natasha
Brennan (Wasps)
Rachael
Burford
(Richmond)
Heather Fisher
(Worcester)
Kate Hancock
(Plymouth Albion (on loan to Worcester))
Natasha Hunt
(Lichfield)
SarahGuest(Worcester)
Ruth Laybourn (Darlington
Mowden Park Sharks)
Jane Leonard
(Wasps)
Alice Richardson
(C) (Richmond)
Emily Scarratt
(Lichfield)
Sally Tuson (Bristol)
Danielle Waterman
(VC) (Worcester)
