Five Bristol Ladies named in England Women EPS for Loughborough camp

Amber Reed, Caity Mattinson, Lagi Tuima, Izzy Noel-Smith and Poppy Leitch have all been included for the camp, which will enable England to begin preparations for the upcoming Six Nations campaign. The Red Roses’ opening match is against Italy on February 4th in the Stadio Mirabello (KO 17:30 GMT, live on Sky Sports Action).

“We want to continue to build on what was put in place for the Old Mutual Wealth Series, while at the same time get winning results," said head coach Simon Middleton.

"The Six Nations is a highly competitive tournament and the level of competition is tough.

"We will have two camps between now and the first game on the 4 February to pick our strongest squad. In this training camp we will be looking to really test the players and for them to perform.”

England Women squad will convene again on 22 January for a final week-long training camp before a playing squad is selected ahead of the opening Test against Italy. England won the Six Nations in 2017 with their first Grand Slam since 2012. 

England training squad for Loughborough camp:

Backs
Bianca Blackburn (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC), Rachael Burford (Harlequins Ladies), Lauren Cattell (Saracens Women), Charlotte Clapp (Saracens Women), Abigail Dow (Wasps FC Ladies), Zoe Harrison (Saracens Women), Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC), Caity Mattinson (Bristol Ladies), Charlotte Pearce (Loughborough Lightning), Amber Reed (Bristol Ladies), Leanne Riley (Harlequins Ladies), Helena Rowland (Saracens Women), Kelly Smith (Gloucester- Hartpury Women’s RFC), Lagi Tuima (Bristol Ladies), Danielle Waterman (Wasps FC Ladies), Rachael Woosey (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks).

Forwards
Sarah Bern (Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC), Hannah Botterman (Saracens Women), Jo Brown (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins Ladies), Rowena Burnfield (Richmond FC), Amy Cokayne (Wasps FC Ladies), Rochelle Clark (Wasps FC Ladies), Poppy Cleall (Saracens Women), Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins Ladies), Lark Davies (Worcester Valkyries), Sarah Hunter (Loughborough Lightning), Olivia Jones (Loughborough Lightning), Heather Kerr (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Poppy Leitch (Bristol Ladies), Justine Lucas (Wasps FC Ladies), Izzy Noel-Smith (Bristol Ladies), Catherine O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning), Marlie Packer (Saracens Women), Tamara Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park Sharks), Abbie Scott (Harlequins Ladies).

England Women Six Nations 2018 fixtures:

Italy v England - Sunday 4 February, KO 17:30 GMT, Live Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix - Stadio Mirabello, Reggio Emilia

England v Wales - Saturday 10 February, KO 12:30 GMT, Live Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix - Twickenham Stoop - Tickets available here

Scotland v England - Friday 23 February, KO 19:30 GMT, Live Sky Sports Mix and Sky Sports Arena via red button - Scotstoun, Glasgow

France v England - Saturday 10 March, KO 20:00 GMT, Live Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix - Stade des Alpes, Grenoble

England v Ireland - Friday 16 March, KO 17:30 GMT, Live Sky Sports Action and Sky Sports Mix - Ricoh Arena, Coventry - Tickets available here