England Women pick for Sevens

England Women have named strong squads for both the Amsterdam and London Sevens tournaments.

Head Coach Simon Amor, along with his assistant Mike Friday, have selected two squads that boast a total of 263 caps between the thirteen players.

Two former England captains, Worcester's Jo Yapp and Wasps' Sue Day, return from international retirement to spearhead England's sevens campaign as the team continue their preparations to qualify for the inaugural IRB Women's Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai in 2009.

The Amsterdam Sevens squad, to be played on the weekend of May 17/18, includes seven players who helped England win the 2008 Six Nations Grand Slam. There are also call-ups for Sonia Green, who has been a regular for England A this season and Heather Fisher who has also previously played for England A.

For the London Sevens England will play a one off fixture against the New Zealand Aotearoa Maori Sevens team on May 25 at Twickenham Stadium. The NZ Aotearoa Maori Sevens have won the Hong Kong Sevens four years on the bounce.

"Amsterdam is a great tournament to kick start our sevens campaign," said former England Sevens Captain Amor.

"There are some really competitive national teams involved including Canada, the USA and the NZ Aotearoa Maori team. That's good news for us as we need to challenge ourselves early on.

"It's certainly going to be a tough tournament, especially as we could potentially play nine games in two days, that is three more than I ever played for England on the World Sevens circuit.

"I'm really pleased with the two squads we've got for Amsterdam and London. It's great to have the likes of Jo Yapp and Sue Day back in action for England.

"All the players have been working really hard over the last couple of weeks and I'm really pleased with the way they are developing. This is going to be an exciting month of sevens rugby."

Amsterdam Sevens squad: Claire Allan (Saracens), Charlotte Barras (Saracens), Rachael Burford (Saracens), Susan Day (Wasps), Heather Fisher (Wasps), Sonia Green (Saracens), Emma Layland (Richmond), Sarah Marsh (Wasps), Alice Richardson (Richmond), Michaela Staniford (Wasps), Danielle Waterman (Clifton), Joanne Yapp (Worcester).

London Sevens squad: Claire Allan (Saracens), Susan Day (Wasps), Heather Fisher (Wasps), Sonia Green (Saracens), Emma Layland (Richmond), Sarah Marsh (Wasps), Alice Richardson (Richmond), Gemma Sharples (Worcester), Danielle Waterman (Clifton), Joanne Yapp (Worcester).