Sarah Hunter to level all time England caps record against France

England Head Coach Simon Middleton has announced his squad to take on France in the second round of pool matches at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The match takes place on Saturday 15th October in Whangerei at 20:00 NZ time/ 08:00 BST.

Sarah Hunter captains the side at number 8 and is set to earn her 137th cap and become the joint most-capped England international drawing level with Red Roses prop Rocky Clark.

Marlie Packer will return against France at openside flanker – the only change made to Middleton’s matchday squad from the opener against Fiji at Eden Park.

Lark Davies remains unavailable, with Middleton saying she will be fit for the final group game against South Africa on October 23.

The Red Roses started their campaign with an 84-19 rout of tournament debutants Fiji, scoring 10 tries in the second half.

However, Middleton is expecting a “close contest” when the Red Roses take on France.

France have a new coaching set-up since they were beaten 36-10 by England in June, and Middleton said of the game: “France always present a huge challenge and this time it will be no different. We look forward to another big test and what I expect to be a close contest.

“They’re starting from scratch because they’ve got a new coaching team in there. We haven’t beaten that coaching team as such, so it’s a new set for them but they’ve certainly got a few differences to their game that we’ve got to be aware of.

“There are things we think we can get, but things that we’ve got to be really conscious of in terms of how we go about playing.

“But to be honest, one win or 10 wins – or 10 losses – it doesn’t make any difference, this is a huge game, so our focus has been just on being the best version of us and getting our game on the field.

“We know against France it will bring up different challenges to playing other sides, but that’s what we’re setting out to do.”

Hunter said on her selection and joint-caps record: “It’s something that as a player you can’t control, and for me my goal is always just to be the best version that I can be, to play for the team and get selected.

“I wanted to be put in that category with someone like Clark who has just been an absolute legend for the game, and to be alongside her now as the most-capped player is really special and it will be a really proud moment for me.”