England A line-up for Italy clash named

Lichfield's Rosemarie Crowley will lead England against Italy, and she is joined in the starting line-up by Rowena Burnfield, Fran Matthews and Georgina Roberts. Wasps Michaela Staniford is also back in the starting line-up after returning from injury.A number of new faces have also been rewarded for strong Premiership campaigns, with players like Sarah McKenna from OA Saints, Jane Leonard from Wasps(pictured)and Marlie Packer of Bristol,handed starts following excellent club seasons.

Barnett said: We have picked an experienced team for the opening round of pool matches as we are expecting Italy to be one of the hardest opponents in the tournament. They are bringing nearly all their Six Nations squad, so you could say we are playing a full international side.

We have included players such as Roz Crowley, Tamara Taylor, Sarah Hunter, Kim Oliver and Michaela Staniford who all have a lot of international experience. But we also have some young players in the mix who we are very excited to see play in this environment such as Marlie Packer, Sarah McKenna and Kay Wilson.

England A kick off their European Trophy campaign on the back of a 34-7 victory over Spain last month and a 19-22 defeat to the Nomads in February.England facefour games in seven days with England A playing Italy, the Netherlands and Russia in Pool B. Spain, Sweden, France and Finland will play in Pool A.

Barnett added: Its very important that we start the tournament with a win as we have three games in five days and it will be tough to comeback from a defeat and still make the final so we really want to hit the ground running with a good performance. All the players and management are very excited and raring to go for a tournament that we have been preparing for all this year.

READ OUR PREVIEW OF THE TOURNAMENT HEREEngland A15 Kay Wilson (Richmond)14 Michaela Staniford (Wasps)13 Georgina Roberts (Darlington Mowden Park)12 Kimberley Oliver (Bristol)11 Francesca Matthews (Richmond)10 Sarah McKenna (Old Albanians)9 Georgina Rozario (Lichfield)1 Rosemarie Crowley (Lichfield) Captain2 Olivia Poore(Wasps)3 Charlotte Male (Bristol)4 Rowena Burnfield (Richmond)5 Tamara Taylor(Darlington Mowden Park)6 Marlie Packer (Bristol)7 Jane Leonard (Wasps)8 Sarah Hunter (Lichfield)

Replacements:

16 Victoria Fleetwood (Lichfield)17 Monica Lewinska (Bristol)18 Stacey Maguire (Lichfield)19 IsobelNoel Smith (Bristol)20 Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)21 Amber Reed (Bristol)22 Natasha Jones(Lichfield)