The England women’s captain, Sarah Hunter, has expressed her relief that the Rugby Football Union has agreed to pay her side’s match fees for the first time after their professional contracts were ended in the aftermath of finishing as runners-up at the World Cup in August.
On announcing a 28-strong squad for England’s three-Test series against Canada this autumn, the RFU revealed that it is “concluding discussions” with the Rugby Players’ Association for a new pay deal, including elite player squad fees for 35 players as well as match fees.
It softens the blow after the RFU announced before the World Cup in August that it would only be covering 17 professional sevens contracts, leaving the XVs players in limbo. The RFU defended the measure by pointing to its £2.4m revamp of the domestic league competition but Hunter acknowledged the governing body’s latest intervention.
“The RFU and RPA are working brilliantly together to get that for us,” Hunter said. “It’s something that has been long been on the radar, it was always in the pipeline and it’s great that they are supporting us this way.”
Eighteen of the World Cup 28 have been retained for the series against Canada, with the head coach, Simon Middleton, naming the highly rated Ellie Kildunne among the seven new faces. Emily Scarratt is among those absent, having switched her focus to sevens, with next year’s Commonwealth Games and World Cup, and the 2020 Olympics on the horizon.
“We’re bringing in the new players now; they are players who have the potential to be the next Emily Scarratts,” Middleton said. “Those [sevens] players are very capable of making the transition back – they’ve proved it before – but our focus is to develop these players now.”
The first Test is at Saracens’ Allianz Park on Friday 17 November, with a game at the Stoop four days later. The finale is at Twickenham on Saturday 25 November, following the men’s international against Samoa.
Middleton revealed he is targeting a 3-0 whitewash against Canada despite intending to blood new players such as Kildunne. “It’s not just about the autumn internationals, it’s about regenerating as well and bringing in the new talent. We’ve had a busy few weeks, looking at the areas where we pulled up short at the World Cup. We’ve addressed those, there has been a big change in how we want to play. We brought the players back in and it’s evolution not revolution. After the 2014 World Cup it was very different, a wholesale rebuild, but now we’ve got a great foundation.
“There are elements of development [against Canada] in there, there’s no point bringing the new players in and not playing them. But our priority is to win every game we play. Part of the process is picking the right moment to introduce those new players, but you won’t be seeing wholesale changes. We’ve got a lot of experience still in the backline.”
England Women squad for autumn series against Canada
Backs Rachael Burford (Harlequins Ladies), Jess Breach (Harlequins Ladies), Charlotte Clapp (Saracens Women), Katy Daley-Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Abigail Dow (Wasps FC Ladies), Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women), Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC), Caity Mattinson (Bristol Ladies), Amber Reed (Bristol Ladies), Leanne Riley (Harlequins Ladies), Lagi Tuima (Bristol Ladies), Danielle Waterman (Wasps FC Ladies).
Forwards Sarah Bern (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC), Jo Brown (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Rowena Burnfield (Richmond FC), Amy Cokayne (Wasps FC Ladies), Rochelle Clark (Wasps FC Ladies), Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women), Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Ladies), Lark Davies (Worcester Valkyries), Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning), Heather Kerr (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Justine Lucas (Wasps FC Ladies) Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps FC Ladies), Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol Ladies), Marlie Packer (Saracens Women), Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Abbie Scott (Harlequins Ladies).
