England recall Burford and Wilson to Women's Sevens squad
Thursday 7 May 2015 22:48, UK
England Women’s Head Coach Simon Middleton has recalled Rachael Burford and Kay Wilson for the Sevens World Series at Twickenham.
The event, the penultimate round of the series, takes place at the Twickenham Stoop as well as at Twickenham Stadium on May 15 and 16.
Burford missed the last round of the series in Canada due to injury while Wilson will make her first start of the series having also been side-lined with injuries all season.
“Experience will be key for this leg of the series and both Rachael and Kay, who are experienced sevens players and also World Cup winners, offer us that,” said Middleton. “Both Leanne and Sarah did a good job in Canada but these players will give us all round experience across the park and will balance up the squad nicely.
“It is also great to welcome Kay into the tournament squad. She has been so unlucky with injuries this season but she has been training really well and showed such positivity throughout the year.”
The tournament has extra significance for England as they still have still to secure a top four finish in the series which would ensure automatic qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games. England are currently sixth in the standings with the final round in Amsterdam on May 22 & 23.
“Having the World Series here in our own back yard is going to be a great occasion,” added Middleton. “We are looking forward to showing the English public first-hand what Sevens World Series rugby is all about.
“At the same time though, it is really important we prepare as normally as possible. Our full attention must be about getting our performance right which is what we did in Canada and we finished third there. We know we need to get to the semi-finals again, and finish above our nearest rivals but we can’t lose our performance focus. First and foremost we’ll be concentrating on South Africa for game one, and we’ll continue to take it one game at a time, with Russia next and then Canada.”
England Sevens Squad:
Natasha Brennan (Richmond), Rachael Burford (Thurrock), Abigail Chamberlain (C) (Richmond), Natasha Hunt (Lichfield), Katy Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Marlie Packer (Wasps), Alice Richardson (Richmond), Emily Scarratt (Lichfield), Michaela Staniford (Wasps), Joanne Watmore (Richmond), Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol), Kay Wilson (Thurrock)
