England Women’s U20s squad announced for Nations Cup opener by Julia Hutton

The England Women’s Under 20s squad to play Canada on Thursday on the opening day of the Nations Cup action at Brunel University, kick off 7pm, has today (Tuesday) been announced.

England will be looking to make a powerful start to their campaign against their North American rivals as the reigning Nations Cup champions. Bath’s Marlie Packer will lead the England young guns with her club and country teammate Nicola Hoole as Vice Captain.

England Head Coach Giselle Mather said: “Although this is a re-run of last year’s final Canada are very much an unknown quantity to us because they have got a new squad. Traditionally Canada have a very good under 20s programme so we are expecting this first fixture to be incredibly tough and physical.

“For us, I am extremely pleased with the progress we have made over the last four days. We are really looking forward to the start of the tournament and with the strong forwards and the pace we have got in our backline we are hoping to play some exciting, fast rugby.

“We are going into this tournament as reigning champions, but for this side this is a clean sheet. We have many new players, and they are eager to create their own little bit of history.”

Also in action on Thursday are Wales versus the USA. England will take on both of those sides over the next 12 days with the finals taking place on July 18th.

England U20s:

15 Natasha Hunt Bath RFC
14 Garnet MacKinder Exeter Saracens RFC
13 Rose Fong Darlington Mowden Park Sharks RFC
12 Sarah McKenna Old Albanian Saints RFC
11 Samantha Bree Worcester RFC
10 Claire Garner Leeds Leos RFC
9 Jessie-Joy Flowers West Park RFC
1 Victoria Cornborough Richmond RFC
2 Davinia Monterio Bath RFC
3 Charlotte Male Plymouth Albion RFC
4 Harriet Mills Manchester RFC
5 Juliet Short Darlington Mowden Park Sharks RFC
6 Marlie Packer Bath RFC Captain
7 Hannah Field Reading RFC
8 Nicola Hoole Bath RFC Vice Captain
Replacements:
16 Sasha Acheson Sudbury RFC
17 Elizabeth Peak Oakmedians RFC
18 Charlotte Wild Leeds Met Uni
19 Amy Miller Reading RFC
20 Hannah Walker-Smart Paviors RFC
21 Alex Cook Bath RFC
22 Lizell Heather Kettering RFC

Head Coach Giselle Mather
Assistant Coach Martin Hynes

Under 20s Nations Cup playing schedule:

July 9th
Wales vs. USA 5pm
Canada vs. England 7pm

July 12th

Canada vs. Wales, 130pm
England vs. USA, 330pm

July 15th
Canada vs. USA, 5pm
England vs. Wales, 7pm

July 18th

Consolation Finals, 130pm
Final, 330pm