Hunt & Scarratt in England's Rugby World Cup squad

Scrum-half Natasha Hunt started England's 2014 World Cup final win but missed out on the squad for the tournament in 2022

Women's Rugby World Cup 2025

Host nation: England Dates: 22 August-27 September

Coverage: Selected matches on BBC TV, with every game live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app; listen on BBC Radio 5 Live and Radio 5 Sports Extra

Scrum-half Natasha Hunt has been named in England's Rugby World Cup squad, three years after her surprise omission from the team that finished runners-up in 2022.

Also included in head coach John Mitchell's 32-player squad for the home tournament is centre Emily Scarratt, who is set to become the first English rugby union player to appear at five World Cups.

Scarratt, 35, first played at a World Cup in 2010 and starred in England's 2014 final victory against Canada.

Zoe Aldcroft, who took over from Marlie Packer as captain in January and then skippered England to a Women's Six Nations Grand Slam, will lead the Red Roses.

England play in the opening match of the 16-team tournament against the United States at Sunderland's Stadium of Light on Friday, 22 August.

Their other Pool A fixtures are against Samoa (30 August, Northampton) and Australia (6 September, Brighton).

The final is at Twickenham on Saturday, 27 September.

England narrowly lost the most recent World Cup final to New Zealand in Auckland in November 2022 but have won all 25 matches they have played since that defeat.

That run of victories has yielded three consecutive Six Nations Grand Slams and titles from the first two editions of WXV1 for the Red Roses, who are top of the world rankings.

Why this is a World Cup-winning squad - analysis

Alastair Telfer, BBC Sport at Twickenham

Building two teams capable of challenging at a World Cup is something Mitchell identified as an area to improve and he has certainly achieved that, while still maintaining a winning run of 25 matches since that World Cup final defeat.

England's depth is unmatched across the women's game, which was shown in this year's Six Nations when they used 34 players to secure a fourth consecutive Grand Slam and seventh straight title.

Packer and Scarratt, World Cup winners in 2014, have a combined 228 caps but missed out on selection for the Grand Slam victory over France in April, which indicates the level of depth that Mitchell has developed.

World Rugby's women's player of the year Ellie Kildunne also missed the one-point win over Les Bleues, with Mitchell not rushing his star player back from injury for his side's biggest match of the season.

Injuries always happen at major tournaments but England are in a position of luxury as they have trusted replacements who would get into the vast majority of starting teams in the tournament.

A one-off match with the pressure of a home World Cup could still derail the hosts, but their squad depth is one of the big reasons they go in as heavy favourites.

'Every experience and challenge has brought them to this point'

Hunt, who started World Cup finals for England in 2014 and 2017, was a high-profile omission from the squad that went to New Zealand under previous coach Simon Middleton in 2022.

In a subsequent interview with The Rugby Journal, Hunt spoke at length about how she struggled to deal with her non-selection - barely eating or sleeping in the days afterwards and then "trying to shut out" the tournament "as if it wasn't even happening".

Within a year, she was back in the England fold and is set to add to her 80 international caps at her third World Cup.

Hunt, 36, and Harlequins' Lucy Packer are the two specialist scrum-halves in the squad, although versatile Exeter back Claudia Moloney-MacDonald is also able to cover that position.

At club level, Hunt has been a key component of the Gloucester-Hartpury side that has won three consecutive Premiership Women's Rugby titles.

The absences of players such as Hunt's club team-mate Mia Venner and Bristol Bears' Millie David, who was the joint-leading try-scorer in PWR in 2024-25, demonstrate the depth of talent available to Mitchell.

Meanwhile, Gloucester-Hartpury centre Jade Shekells and Trailfinders forward Abi Burton are in a group of eight World Cup debutants in the England squad.

Burton's rise to the Red Roses setup has been a remarkable one. In 2022 she was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis, which occurs when the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the brain, and spent more than three weeks in a coma.

After making a full recovery, she - along with Shekells - appeared for Great Britain in rugby sevens at last year's Olympics in Paris before both made their England XV-a-side debuts during the Six Nations.

Mitchell said: "The selection process is never easy. It's been a thorough two-year process to select the right blend of positional cover, skill, mindset and connection - we believe this is a squad that can win the World Cup.

"Every experience and challenge has brought the 32 to this point in their life and career, and they have all earned their place. They should be proud of the opportunity to create history together whilst knowing we have to earn the right to progress throughout the World Cup."

England's Rugby World Cup squad

Forwards: Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, captain), Lark Atkin-Davies (Bristol Bears), Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears), Hannah Botterman (Bristol Bears), Abi Burton (Trailfinders), May Campbell (Saracens), Mackenzie Carson (Gloucester-Hartpury), Kelsey Clifford (Saracens), Amy Cokayne (Sale Sharks), Maddie Feaunati (Exeter Chiefs), Rosie Galligan (Saracens), Lilli Ives Campion (Loughborough Lightning), Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning), Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury), Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury), Marlie Packer (Saracens), Morwenna Talling (Sale Sharks), Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears).

Backs: Holly Aitchison (Sale Sharks), Jess Breach (Saracens), Abby Dow (Unattached), Zoe Harrison (Saracens), Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury), Natasha Hunt (Gloucester-Hartpury), Megan Jones (Trailfinders), Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins), Claudia Moloney-MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs), Lucy Packer (Harlequins), Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning), Emily Scarratt (Loughborough Lightning), Jade Shekells (Gloucester-Hartpury), Emma Sing (Gloucester-Hartpury).