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Shock omission flagged in England's World Cup squad
By Ian Cameron
Sources in the UK are reporting that Natasha 'Mo' Hunt is set to miss out on England Women's Rugby World Cup squad.
Red Roses Head coach Simon Middleton's finalised squad for the competition in New Zealand is set to be named on Tuesday and Hunt appears to be the big-name casualty.
Fellow scrum-halves Lucy Packer and Claudia MacDonald are set to be named ahead of her, with Hunt failing to make the plane according to reports.
Women's rugby reporter and commentator Nick Heath wrote on Twitter that: "News emerging that Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt has missed out on a place in Simon Middleton’s final England 32 for #RWC2021. Gutted for a player who has become a friend and whose World Cup winning experience I’d have put on that plane. Infante, MacDonald & L Packer to go. Big, big call."
Last weekend England continued their World Cup preparations in landmark fashion as they crushed Wales 73-7 at Ashton Gate. It was the Red Roses’ 25th successive victory – a feat no Test nation, male or female, had previously accomplished.
Earlier in the month Middleton had flagged that there were still plenty of 50-50 calls to be made.
“It is a little bit of a discovery game in terms of just some final choices,” Middleton said, ahead of the Sandy Park encounter.
“We have been training for eight weeks, so we are absolutely desperate to play.
“The players have had a brilliant period of preparation since the start of July – the longest run-in we’ve had in pre-season – and have worked tirelessly to ensure we are in the best possible place.
“Sometimes in sport, opportunities are limited, and with just the two matches before the tournament in New Zealand this is one of those occasions.
“There are a few combinations we want to look at, there are some individual performances we want to look at, and off the back of this we are probably going to make some 50-50 calls on the (World Cup) squad.
“We are close (to the final 32), but I would say there are at least four or five calls that we are going to have to make."
additional reporting PA
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Latest Comments
Great read on a fascinating topic.
Couple of questions related to Bristol and Black Ferns.
They were properly hammered and struggled to score many points at all in the two European matches preceding the demolition of Leicester. Was it lack of ambition in those matches or a better opponent? This Tigers mob has been less than the sum of their parts since their ugly GP win under Borthwick.
I went to Twickenham with a large group of parents and young ladies from Barnes RFC to watch NZ v England last season. The dads among us were deeply frustrated by how inflexible the Black Ferns were with their strategy to run and not kick and they were duly put to the sword.
Pretty clearly, there is more depth and quality in the England squad and, whilst on any given day (and with the help of a red card), NZ might sneak one the strategy can go horribly wrong given the level of passing and catching skill in the women's game. Was Smith very lucky and it's the wrong way to play big games or was he showing us the way forward? I'm not at all sure.
Go to commentsI can't see them getting to the final of the Champons Cup.
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