England Sevens squad for London named

Head Coach Barry Maddocks has made four changes to the side who were victorious in Hong Kong last month with Six Nations winners Emily Scarratt, Natasha Hunt and Kat Merchant all coming into the fold alongside Wasps Sarah McKenna.

Merchant and Scarratt are also part of Englands European (15s) Trophy Squad and will head out to Italy once the Sevens tournament is over.

Scarratt, who has 39 caps in the XVs game, is set to make her international sevens debut while Hunt and Merchant have experienced England Sevens on the UK circuit. McKenna was part of the England Sevens team that reached the final of the inaugural IRB Womens Sevens Challenge Cup in Dubai in December.

Maddocks said: This is a really exciting squad that I believe have the ability to seriously challenge for the title in London. We have made some changes but we have been working on developing a wider Sevens squad.

Emily is a newcomer to the sevens squad but she has proved herself to be a fantastic player at XVs and although this tournament will expose her to a different level of sevens, she has the raw talent to be a great sevens player. Natasha, Kat and Sarah have all experienced the England Sevens set-up before so now really it is about developing their skills at this level. I am sure they will all make a real impact.

12 top international womens sevens team will compete over the two-day tournament, including World Cup Sevens champions Australia, Hong Kong finalists Canada, the USA, Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, France, South Africa and Portugal.

England Sevens Squad

Rachael Burford (Richmond)Heather Fisher (Worcester)Sonia Green(Saracens)Natasha Hunt (Lichfield)SarahMcKenna (Wasps)Kat Merchant (Worcester)Isabelle Noel-Smith (Bristol)Alice Richardson (Richmond)Emily Scarratt (Lichfield)Michaela Staniford (C)(Wasps)Joanne Watmore (Worcester)Kay Wilson (Bristol)