England are favourites to win the Rugby World Cup, which begins on 8 October in New Zealand.
The world number ones became the first side to win 25 Tests in a row in September and begin their campaign at Eden Park against Fiji on Saturday.
The final is on 12 November – here is a look at who is hoping to be a world champion on that day with links to articles where you can find out more about each player.
Forwards
Zoe Aldcroft
The 25-year-old lock is the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year and most likely will be accompanied in New Zealand by a knitted Jonny Wilkinson doll.
Sarah Bern
A 25-year-old prop, with a wing’s feet.
Hannah Botterman
A painter and decorator, 23, turned full-time England prop.
Shaunagh Brown
A 32-year-old Harlequins prop and BBC Sport columnist who says she has enjoyed defying society’s expectations on the way to the World Cup.
Poppy Cleall
Cleall, 30, is at home in the second or back row. An ex-prison officer, campaigner and briefly England’s captain.
Amy Cokayne
England’s starting hooker, 26-year-old Cokayne balances her rugby career with being a flight lieutenant in the Royal Airforce.
Vickii Cornborough
The 32-year-old prop leads off the pitch as well as on it – being the first woman to be elected into a Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) leadership role in 2021.
Lark Davies
Vying with Cokayne for the starting hooker spot, Davies, 27, has joined Bristol for the new Premier 15s season.
Rosie Galligan
The 24-year-old lock burst back on to the international scene in the 2022 Women’s Six Nations after recovering from meningitis and a shattered ankle.
Sarah Hunter
England’s dedicated 37-year-old captain returned from a nerve injury that left her struggling to tie her shoelaces in 2021. Currently on 135 caps, the number eight is set to surpass Rocky Clark’s record of 137 England caps at the World Cup.
Sadia Kabeya
The 20-year-old flanker was coaxed into rugby by her PE teacher and England team-mate Bryony Cleall.
Laura Keates
The prop, 34, is studying to be a dentist alongside her international rugby career.
Alex Matthews
The flanker was left “lost” when cuts to sevens funding meant she was jobless in 2020, but the 29-year-old has found her way into England’s XV-a-side World Cup squad.
Maud Muir
At 21, Muir has had a remarkable rise through England’s ranks in the past year. In 2021, she and Wasps director of rugby Giselle Mather reflected on how women’s rugby has evolved.
Cath O’Donnell
After a prolonged absence with injury, O’Donnell, 26, fought her way back into England’s competitive back five just in time for the World Cup.
Marlie Packer
Few would be happy to see Packer, 33, rampaging towards them on a rugby pitch, but the flanker insists she has a gentle side too.
Connie Powell
England’s third-choice hooker is 22 and plays her club rugby at Gloucester-Hartpury.
Morwenna Talling
The 20-year-old lock would have missed out on the World Cup with an ACL injury had it not been postponed by a year and says her strength may in part be thanks to growing up on a poultry farm.
Abbie Ward
A starter in an extremely competitive second row, at club Bristol Ward, 29, is coached by her husband Dave.
Backs
Holly Aitchison
Aitchison, 25, represented Team GB in sevens at the Tokyo Olympics and has returned to the XVs side for the World Cup.
Jess Breach
Eye-catching wing Breach, 24, has previously called on men’s players to offer more support in promoting the women’s game.
Abby Dow
Wing Dow, 25, has a mechanical engineering degree and, according to England head coach Simon Middleton, is one of the best finishers in world rugby. She made it back from a broken leg in just five months to get to New Zealand.
Zoe Harrison
Harrison, 24, won the race to be England’s starting fly-half after World Cup-winning 10 Katy Daley-Mclean retired.
Tatyana Heard
In September, centre Heard, 27, made her first England appearance in three years and did enough to convince coaches she was World Cup ready.
Leanne Infante
England’s starting scrum-half, Infante, 29, faces competition from Claudia MacDonald and Lucy Packer for the nine shirt.
Ellie Kildunne
Inspired by the Roald Dahl quote “lukewarm is no good”, Kildunne, 23, has returned to form at full-back just in time.
Claudia MacDonald
At the end of 2021, MacDonald, 26, was told a neck injury might prevent her from playing rugby ever again but the scrum-half and wing is back to full fitness.
Sarah McKenna
One of those in England’s extremely strong back three, McKenna, 33, doubles as head of the side’s social activities.
Lucy Packer
The 22-year-old scrum-half’s consistency meant she was chosen over World Cup-winning nine Natasha Hunt.
Helena Rowland
Centre Rowland, 23, played in an all-star junior team in the small town of Welwyn alongside fellow England internationals Harrison and Botterman.
Emily Scarratt
One of the best-known names in the women’s game, in April centre Scarratt, 32, earned a 100th cap that was very different to her first.
Lydia Thompson
Wing Thompson could only play one match in England’s victorious 2014 World Cup campaign because of injury. She played every game of the 2017 tournament, where the Red Roses were runners-up. Will it be third time lucky for the 30-year-old?
