Breach set for another England Red Roses call-up

Jess Breach in action for England in Italy, where their win secured another Six Nations Grand Slam / Picture: Getty

Head coach Simon Middleton has named a 30-player training squad to prepare for this weekend’s autumn international against France and it includes the former Chichester and Pulboroough junior star.

Fresh from securing the 2020 Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam title in Italy nine days ago, the group re-assemble at Bisham Abbey today before flying to France for Saturday’s match in Grenoble (kick-off 1.15pm GMT).

The 2014 World Cup winning prop Laura Keates is selected following impressive performances in Worcester Warriors’ Allianz Premier 15s matches to date.

Wasps FC Ladies duo Abi Burton and Megan Jones have been training with the group since the start of the season and are once again included.

Sarah Bern, Lydia Thompson and Hannah Botterman are ruled out after sustaining injuries in their Allianz Premier 15s weekend matches.

The matchday squad will be named on Thursday.

Middleton said: “We were absolutely delighted to win the Grand Slam in Italy. This is a group that’s trained really well and we’re pleased with how we’re progressing. Training is competitive and that was reflected in our performance over in Italy.

“Our focus now moves onto the game against France on Saturday. While we have a number of absentees, we have real strength-in-depth as shown in our training squad selection. We’re looking forward to two days of preparation before heading out to France later this week.”

Training squad

Forwards

Sarah Beckett (Harlequins Women, 18 caps)

Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins Women, 18 caps)

Abi Burton (Wasps FC Ladies, 0 caps)

Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women, 41 caps)

Amy Cokayne (Harlequins Women, 51 caps)

Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Women, 54 caps)

Lark Davies (Loughborough Lightning, 26 caps)

Detysha Harper (Loughborough Lightning, 2 caps)

Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning, 123 caps)

Laura Keates (Worcester Warriors, 60 caps)

Heather Kerr (Wasps FC Ladies, 23 caps)

Alex Matthews (Worcester Warriors, 37 caps)

Harriet Millar-Mills (Wasps FC Ladies, 56 caps)

Marlie Packer (Saracens Women, 72 caps)

Morwenna Talling (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap)

Abbie Ward (Harlequins Women, 43 caps)

Backs

Holly Aitchison (Saracens Women, 0 caps)

Jess Breach (Harlequins Women, 14 caps)

Katy Daley-Mclean (Sale Sharks Women, 115 caps)

Abby Dow (Wasps FC Ladies, 13 caps)

Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women, 24 caps)

Megan Jones (Wasps FC Ladies, 9 caps)

Ellie Kildunne (Wasps FC Ladies, 9 caps)

Claudia MacDonald (Wasps FC Ladies, 10 caps)

Amber Reed (Bristol Bears Women, 58 caps)

Leanne Riley (Harlequins Women, 37 caps)

Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 1 cap)

Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning, 90 caps)

Kelly Smith (Gloucester-Hartpury Women, 13 caps)

Lagi Tuima (Harlequins Women, 5 caps)