Trio bolster England Sevens side for China

 

Rachael Burford, Marlie Packer and Megan Ellery have been called into the England squad for the penultimate round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series in Guangzhou, China, this weekend.

The trio have all played for England Sevens before, Burford and Ellery more recently at the opening round of the Series in Dubai last November with Packer last donning the jersey at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013.

“We’ve made some changes again for this leg and I am excited to see how the squad goes,” admitted coach Simon Middleton. “It has been a tough selection as it really has been a tremendous squad effort with everyone contributing to our programme. 

“Rachael Burford is a natural replacement for Claire Allan who has picked up an injury and she’ll bring a lot of experience to the squad. 

“Marlie was one of the stand out players in Sevens last season so it’s great to have her back in the mix and keep her in touch with our Sevens programme, whilst Megan was unlucky to get injured in Dubai and miss out on the last two legs. She is a quality player with a lot of potential.” 

England will take on joint-Series leaders Australia, Ireland and Fiji in Pool B at the Guangzhou University Town Stadium on Saturday and will be improve on their fourth place finish in Brazil last month – their best finish of the season.

“We’ve had some quality time with the players since being in Brazil and that has given us time to reflect on the positives and the negatives of our season so far,” added Middleton. 

“We have got a lot still to work on but there is some real talent in this squad who I am confident can help us to keep moving forward. 

“Australia are definitely going to be the team to beat I think and that game is going to be a massive challenge, but we know what we are going to get from them and we expect to be extremely competitive. 

“Ireland, of course, will be another tricky team to take on whilst we know very little about Fiji. They are definitely an unknown quantity.”

England Sevens squad for China

Natasha Brennan (Richmond), Rachael Burford (Thurrock), Abigail Chamberlain (Richmond – captain), Megan Ellery (Durham University, Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Heather Fisher (Worcester), Francesca Matthews (Richmond), Sarah McKenna (Saracens), Marlie Packer (Wasps), Emily Scott (Thurrock), Michaela Staniford (Wasps), Danielle Waterman (Bristol), Amy Wilson-Hardy (Bristol).

Article source: http://www1.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/12504/9224877/six-nations-englands-mike-brown-voted-player-of-the-tournament

Trio bolster England Sevens side for China