England v France: Natasha Hunt returns to squad for rematch

Hunt has won 54 caps for England

Scrum-half Natasha Hunt has returned to the England squad for Saturday's rematch against France at Twickenham.

The 31-year-old missed England's Grand Slam-clinching win over Italy at the start of November after testing positive for coronavirus.

Loughborough's Abbie Brown, who can play at wing or full-back, is called up for the first time since her return to the 15-a-side game from sevens.

Hunt's Gloucester-Hartpury team-mate Ellena Perry is a new front-row option.

A strong second-half performance helped England to a 33-10 win over France in Grenoble last weekend.

"Last Saturday's game against France was a tough and physical affair and we expect more of the same," said head coach Simon Middleton.

"We've spoken a lot about resilience, which we've shown in our training and our two matches at the start of the season to date.

"While we were delighted with the result and much of the performance in France, we know we need to be better this weekend."

Hunt's return increases Middleton's options at nine after Claudia MacDonald and Leanne Riley played scrum-half in the wins over Italy and France respectively.

England training squad

Forwards:

Sarah Beckett, Shaunagh Brown, Poppy Cleall, Amy Cokayne, Vickii Cornborough, Lark Davies, Detysha Harper, Sarah Hunter, Laura Keates, Heather Kerr, Alex Matthews, Harriet Millar-Mills, Marlie Packer, Ellena Perry, Morwenna Talling, Abbie Ward.

Backs:

Holly Aitchison, Jess Breach, Abbie Brown, Katy Daley-Mclean, Abby Dow, Zoe Harrison, Natasha Hunt, Megan Jones, Ellie Kildunne, Claudia MacDonald, Leanne Riley, Helena Rowland, Emily Scarratt, Kelly Smith, Lagi Tuima.

• The Players Podcast: Lionesses Steph Houghton and Jill Scott talk leadership

• Press X to Continue: Is the new Xbox console worth the money?