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The Red Roses enter the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup as strong favourites to triumph on home soil in England.
John Mitchell’s side have gone unbeaten in the three years since their final defeat to New Zealand at the last major tournament and continue to set the pace at the top of women’s rugby.
Mitchell, appointed head coach in 2023 and tasked with ending a nine-year wait for a world title, has selected a 32-player squad for the World Cup featuring mostly familiar faces having worked hard to build depth over the last two years.
With four survivors of the successful 2014 England side, and several new stars also included, the New Zealander hopes to have put together the right blend to allow the Red Roses to triumph at Twickenham on 27 September.
Here’s The Independent’s player-by-player guide to the squad:
Props
Hannah Botterman
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Prop Hannah Botterman is one of England’s best ball carriers (Getty Images)
Club: Bristol Bears
A powerful ball carrier, Botterman is now firmly established as England’s first-choice loosehead, who combines set-piece solidity with real prowess over the ball. A high-energy figure on and off the pitch.
Mackenzie Carson
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Mackenzie Carson was capped by Canada before switching her international allegiance to England in 2023 (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Capped three times by Canada after making her debut against England in 2018, Carson came from nowhere into the Red Roses fold in early 2023 – and hasn’t looked back since. Qualifying thanks to her English mother, an injury has disrupted her year a little yet Carson always felt a certainty to make this squad.
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Sarah Bern is a dynamic force in the loose (Getty)
Club: Bristol Bears
Probably the most complete prop in the world, Bern burst on to the scene at the 2017 tournament and has run amok ever since with dynamism that belies her position and power-packed frame. Named on The Independent’s 2025 Pride list, her wider profile has begun to match her ability on the pitch with Bern an increasingly prominent social media figure.
Maud Muir
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Maud Muir is one of England’s props (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Muir has begun to seriously threaten Bern’s position as top tighthead, which is a mark of how she has grown into a front-row force. Having bounced around the front row early in her career, the 24-year-old has been allowed to knuckle down at one spot and flourished.
Kelsey Clifford
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(Getty Images)
Club: Saracens
A hugely valuable front row figure given her capacity to cover both sides of the scrum, Clifford has always been a strong set-piece operator and is now a developing threat in the loose, too. Only 23 but firmly established at Saracens.
Hookers
Lark Atkin-Davies
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(Getty Images)
Club: Bristol Bears
Marshall of a maul that will again do damage, Atkin-Davies is a standards-driver within the England environment and outstanding lineout thrower.
Amy Cokayne
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Amy Cokayne is one of England’s hookers (Getty Images)
Club: Sale Sharks
Cokayne balances plenty of skill and steel in the tight with comfort in wide-open spaces, and will rival Atkin-Davies for the starting No 2 shirt. The pair’s high quality have helped get the best out of one another and their teammates, with England’s set-piece again sure to be a strength.
May Campbell
Club: Saracens
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May Campbell has played at hooker and in the back row (Getty Images)
Campbell has edged out Connie Powell for the third hooker spot on account of an excellent Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) campaign both in the front row and at flanker for Saracens. An outstanding ruck scavenger, Campbell is slightly undersized yet is very good around the park.
Locks
Zoe Aldcroft (captain)
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Zoe Aldcroft will captain England at a home World Cup (AFP via Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Appointed captain in a year of a home World Cup, Aldcroft never has a bad game. Tireless and totemic, her athleticism means she may well be deployed in the back row while she is finding her voice as a leader.
Abbie Ward
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Abbie Ward is one of England’s best lineout forwards (Getty Images)
Club: Bristol Bears
Having become a mother between the last World Cup and this, Ward has re-established herself as a second row starter. An excellent lineout operator and incredibly driven professional.
Rosie Galligan
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Rosie Galligan has overcome challenges in her career (Getty Images)
Club: Saracens
An international career initially interrupted by career-threatening battles with bacterial meningitis and serious injury has flourished in the last few years. Galligan is another springy lineout jumper who now plays with real authority around the park. Recently became engaged to teammate Marlie Packer.
Morwenna Talling
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The hard-working Talling is well-liked by England’s coaching staff (Getty Images)
Club: Sale Sharks
Capable in either the second row or on the blindside, Talling embraces the workhorse term and relishes doing plenty of unseen work. A proud northerner, the 23-year-old was born and raised in Yorkshire and now calls Sale home; her physicality is valued by the England staff.
Lilli Ives Campion
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Lilli Ives Campion is the youngest player in the Red Roses squad (Getty Images)
Club: Loughborough Lightning
The youngest member of the squad, Ives Campion is a former England U20s captain who has been mentored closely by both Ward and Aldcroft. An avid TikTok poster, like plenty in the Red Roses squad.
Back Rows
Alex Matthews
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Alex Matthews won the World Cup (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Among the most consistent England players in fifteens and sevens for more than a decade, Matthews has evolved from youthful tyro into a No 8 of sheer class. A World Cup winner in 2014 and Olympian at Tokyo 2020, she may be quiet off the field but Matthews will be a key cog in England’s bid for success.
Sadia Kabeya
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Sadia Kabeya is one of England’s rising stars (Getty Images)
Club: Loughborough Lightning
A surging force in the run-up to the last World Cup, Kabeya is now firmly established in the England set-up. Among the most destructive defenders at John Mitchell’s disposal, the Loughborough flanker likely has designs on a starting spot on the openside but has operated on the blindside in the last 18 months at times, adding lineout jumping and a wider role in attack to a skillset that still seems to be growing.
Marlie Packer
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Marlie Packer is England’s former captain (PA Archive)
Club: Saracens
No longer skipper but still a vital part of the Red Roses leadership team, Packer is combativity and competitiveness are her trademark qualities but can distract from how rounded her game is. At 35, this is probably a last chance to repeat the 2014 triumph of which she was a part – whether in a prominent or smaller role, she will not take a backwards step.
Maddie Feaunati
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Maddie Feaunati has been a breakthrough star of 2025 (PA Wire)
Club: Exeter Chiefs
Lured north from New Zealand having been born in Leeds, Feaunati has been the breakthrough star of England’s 2025 to challenge for a starting spot. Still a rough diamond in some ways, she is well-liked by coaches and players alike and provides something a little bit different in the forward pack. Father Zak won 13 caps for Samoa and portrayed Jonah Lomu in Invictus, the 2009 film starring Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman.
Abi Burton
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Abi Burton is (PA Wire)
Club: Trailfinders
A tale of resilience to rival any in in the squad, Burton spent 25 days in a coma in 2022 with autoimmune encephalitis. Returned to the sevens circuit a year later and appeared at an Olympics before making her international 15-a-side bow during this year’s Six Nations, where she immediately impressed to earn a place in this squad.
Scrum halves
Natasha ‘Mo’ Hunt
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Natasha Hunt has returned to full force after missing the last World Cup squad (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
A shock omission from the travelling party three years ago, Hunt has returned better than ever to find maybe career-best form in her mid-thirties. A livewire character hasn’t always meshed with previous England coaches but Mitchell and Lou Meadows, the attack coach, have got the best out of her, aided by clarity of communication and a willingness to back their players’ decision-making.
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Lucy Packer started the last World Cup final (Getty Images)
Club: Harlequins
Packer was the beneficiary of Hunt’s omission last time around and produced a composed showing after a late call into the starting side for the World Cup final. The Harlequin has since been given plenty more opportunities in England’s biggest games and provides sharp service from the base of the ruck.
Fly halves
Zoe Harrison
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Zoe Harrison (Getty Images)
Club: Saracens
For a long time the heir apparent to Katy Daley-Mclean, Harrison hasn’t had things all her own way since the World Cup-winning No 10’s retirement, battling with fluctuations in form and an ACL injury that sidelined her for much of 2023. She boasts one of the best kicking games in the sport, though, both from hand and tee, and has the ability to put people into space like the best playmakers.
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Holly Aitchison has helped unlock England’s attacking game (Getty Images)
Club: Sale Sharks
Started the last World Cup final in the centres but has since been reinvented as an intuitive distributing fly half who has helped unlock England’s wide attacking game. Enters this tournament with a bit of an injury niggle yet may well emerge as a leading fly half option if the Red Roses wish to play expansively. She’s worked hard to refine her work from the tee, too.
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Helena Rowland is one of the world’s most versatile players (PA Wire)
Club: Loughborough Lightning
Among the most valued members of the squad, Rowland is England’s Miss Versatility, and has started games at 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15 in the last few years – as well as providing emergency scrum half cover in the run-up to this tournament. Like plenty of others in the 32-player group, comes from a sevens background and has the fast feet one would expect. Still unbeaten in a Red Roses shirt having missed the final defeat last time around due to a cruelly timed injury.
Centres
Tatyana Heard
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Tatyana Heard is a key figure for England in midfield (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
A vital cog in England’s backline, Heard balances ability as front-foot carrier with a clever short-passing game. The inside centre can sometimes fail to garner the plaudits she deserves -when Heard goes well, so, generally, do the Red Roses.
Meg Jones
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(Getty Images)
Club: Trailfinders
A free spirit, Jones bounced between sevens and fifteens after appearing at the 2017 World Cup yet has really nailed down her best role since returning to the Red Roses squad in the autumn of 2023. Quick as a hiccup and highly creative, she still speaks with a Welsh twang that betrays her Cardiff upbringing but she is a key leader and vice-captain within this England squad.
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Emily Scarratt has won more than 100 caps for England (Getty Images)
Club: Loughborough Lightning
A remarkable fifth World Cup for a player who did plenty to change perceptions of the sport. Scarratt thought retirement may be on the cards after a serious neck injury forced a long lay-off but has come back to prove plenty wrong, and is still among the game’s most gifted players. No longer a starter, yet her value has been clear throughout the lead-up to this World Cup.
Jade Shekells
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Jade Shekells featured for Team GB in sevens at Paris 2024 (Getty Images)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Shekells was not really on the radar as a World Cup contender at the start of this year, yet England like her potential at inside centre, a position where alternatives to Heard were lacking a little. Plenty of time spent on the sevens circuit are indicative of the athletic traits she possesses, while Shekells often stood out for Worcester before their demise.
Back three
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Abby Dow is one of the world’s best wings (Getty Images)
Club: Unattached
A supreme finisher and deep thinker about the game with real pace, a fierce fend and prowess as a defender, Dow is the archetypal modern wing. She is keen on crochet away from the pitch.
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Ellie Kildunne is the reigning World Player of the Year (Getty Images)
Club: Harlequins
The reigning World Player of the Year, the charismatic Kildunne is an expressive player on and off the pitch. Perhaps guilty of trying to do too much herself early in her career, Kildunne has become a top-class full-back and will be one of the faces of the tournament.
Jess Breach
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England’s Jess Breach is unbeaten at international level (PA Archive)
Club: Saracens
Another of those unbeaten at international level, Breach scored six tries on international debut in 2017 and boasts a fine scoring record overall. A real speedster, playing at full-back for Saracens has helped refine the 27-year-old’s wider game on the wing. Likely again competing for a starting wing spot with…
Claudia Moloney-MacDonald
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Claudia Moloney-MacDonald has played on the wing and at scrum half for England (Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
Club: Exeter Chiefs
Having begun her international career at scrum half, the Exeter wing has overcome two separate serious neck injuries to make a second World Cup as a real strike weapon out wide. She has added Moloney to her surname ahead of the tournament after marrying Ireland hooker Cliodhna during the summer.
Emma Sing
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Emma Sing is England’s back-up full-back for the tournament (Action Images via Reuters)
Club: Gloucester-Hartpury
Sing arrives on the back of a superlative season with the title-winning Gloucester-Hartpury side in Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR). A different sort of full-back to Kildunne but still a counter-attacking threat, and adds real value as probably the best place-kicker in the squad.