England Women's Sevens coach Simon Amor has announced his squad for Dubai's inaugural Rugby World Cup Sevens for women, making one change to the squad that won in San Diego recently.
Alice Richardson replaces Sarah Beale in a squad captained by Wasps player Sue Day, who has led England throughout their Sevens journey under Amor, which has garnered tournament victories in London, Dubai, Amsterdam, the European Sevens championships in Limoges and the Home Nations Cup in Edinburgh, as well as now San Diego.
Day and Jo Yapp have both come out of international retirement to spearhead the campaign, having already competed in three 15-a-side women's Rugby World Cups.
Maggie Alphonsi, Charlotte Barras, Rachael Burford, Danielle Waterman and Michaela Staniford all also competed in the 2006 women's Rugby World Cup in Edmonton, Canada.
VIDEO: Sue Day, England captain - After winning in San Diego
VIDEO: Simon Amor, England coach - San Diego winners
Amor: Anything can happen
"We are really excited that the World Cup is nearly here," said Amor. "We think we have given ourselves the best possible chance of winning but with Sevens being such a fast and furious dynamic game, anything can happen.
"We were delighted with our win in San Diego earlier this month and how the players stepped up. The coaching team set a lot of challenges for them and the girls embraced them and took everything on board. That made selection very difficult and I spent several days deliberating on my final squad."
England kick off their campaign against the USA on 6 March and take on Russia and Japan on the same day. The quarter finals, semi finals and final of the women's competition will take place on 7 March.
"USA, as our first game, will be very tough," said Amor. "We had to go into extra time to beat them in San Diego so we know they'll be completely up for the game against us in Dubai.
Favourite's tag
"We know a little about Japan and Russia. We played Japan in San Diego and we saw Russia in action in the European Sevens. Russia showed in the European Sevens they've got some very physical players and some good pace. This is a seriously tough pool, but I'm really pleased about that because we will have to work very hard straight away."
With England unbeaten under Amor, they have inevitably been tagged as one of the tournament favourites but the coach is adamant that there are several teams capable of lifting the inaugural trophy.
"Other teams to watch are Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They'll certainly be up there and there could well be some surprise packages in the shape of France and the Netherlands.
"Whatever happens this is going to be an exciting tournament."
England Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens Squad: Sue Day (Wasps) (Captain), Maggie Alphonsi (Saracens), Heather Fisher (Wasps), Emma Layland (Richmond), Charlotte Barras (Saracens), Jo Yapp (Worcester), Danielle Waterman Blaydon (Team Northumbria), Alice Richardson (Richmond), Rachael Burford (Saracens), Claire Allan (Saracens), Michaela Staniford (Wasps), Katherine Merchant (Worcester) Non Playing Reserves: Sarah Beale (Lichfield), Amy Turner (Richmond)
