Bailey names England women's sevens squad
BySportsbeat
Published 12/10/2018 at 14:52 GMT
Abbie Brown will captain an England squad blessed with a mixture of youth and experience for their HSBC Rugby Women's Sevens Series opener in Glendale, Colorado.
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Image credit: Eurosport
The 12-player group contains seven representatives from the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco earlier this year, six of whom also won bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Making up the number are five players new to the World Series stage, and head coach James Bailey is delighted by how seamlessly the group have immediately interspersed.
"We have a great blend of experience and youth in our squad for this opening round of this year's World Series,” he said.
"Having players who have been to a number of World Series tournaments, an Olympics, Commonwealth Games and World Cup, complemented by new recruits who each bring something very unique is very exciting.
"We're really pleased with the way that the squad has gelled throughout a relatively short pre-season, most notably during our recent training tournament in France."
England will face USA, China and world cup winners New Zealand in Pool B, with all three fixtures taking place at Infinity Park on Saturday 20 October.
In a newly revamped version of the tournament the series has been expanded to six rounds, something that Bailey believes can have a significant impact on the sport itself.
"The World Series increasing to six rounds is really positive for the women's game,” Bailey continued.
"The competition on the circuit is getting increasingly tough each season and with Olympic qualification at stake, this season will undoubtedly be the toughest yet.
"The cohesion on and off the pitch has been really impressive and we're looking forward to seeing how the benefits of that will pay off in Glendale.”
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