The England Women’s head coach, Simon Middleton, hasrecalled four players who did not feature in the autumn internationals to his 33-player squad for the Six Nations, which begins on 4 February.
Bianca Blackburn, Lark Davies, Heather Kerr and Leanne Riley have all been called up for the series as Middleton aims to fill holes caused by the injury absences of Claire Allan, Emily Braund and Abbie Scott while the hooker Emma Croker retired at the end of last season.
The second-row Tamara Taylor will be hoping for her 100th cap during the tournament and goes into the Six Nations two shy of the landmark, while Amber Reed and Sarah McKenna return to the squad after injury absences.
Middleton said: “There is strength and depth in this squad and, while we will be taking one week at a time and working to build through the tournament, our ambition is to win the Six Nations trophy.
“This is a huge year and we now have a squad training full-time. Our preparation is based around a world-class programme and the Six Nations forms a key milestone ahead of the Women’s Rugby World Cup in August.”
England will open their campaign against France at Twickenham following the men’s first Six Nations Championship match, before taking on Cardiff in Wales on 11 February. They will play twice at Twickenham Stoop, against Italy on 25 February and then Scotland on 11 March, before finishing off their campaign against the 2017 Women’s World Cup hosts Ireland on 17 March.
For the first time all five England Women’s Six Nations games will be broadcast on Sky Sports as part of a move by the Six Nations council to ensure each country’s women’s matches are available live either on television or streamed online.
Ian Ritchie, the RFU’s chief executive, said: “This commitment from Sky Sports reflects what an exciting time it is for women’s rugby and the ongoing growth of the game.”
England women’s squad
Forwards Z Aldcroft (Darlington), S Bern (Bristol), R Clark (Worcester), P Cleall (Bristol), A Cokayne (Lichfield), V Cornborough (Aylesford), L Davies (Worcester), V Fleetwood (Saracens), S Hunter (Bristol), L Keates (Worcester), H Kerr (Darlington) J Lucas (Lichfield), A Matthews (Richmond), H Millar-Mills (Lichfield), I Noel-Smith (Bristol), M Packer (Bristol), T Taylor (Darlington). Backs B Blackburn (Worcester), R Burford (Aylesford), N Hunt (Lichfield), M Jones (Bristol), LT Mason (Darlington), S McKenna (Saracens), K Mclean (Darlington), F Pocock (Aylesford), A Reed (Bristol), L Riley (Aylesford), E Scarratt (Lichfield), E Scott (Saracens), L Thompson (Worcester), D Waterman (Bristol), K Wilson (Richmond), A Wilson Hardy (Bristol).
- This article and the headline were corrected on Thursday 19 January 2017 to reflect the fact that Bianca Blackburn, Lark Davies, Heather Kerr and Leanne Riley were being recalled, not called up for the first time
