Hunt & Scarratt in England's Rugby World Cup squad

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.

Eight players, including Jade Shekells and Abi Burton, will be playing at their first World Cup.

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.

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 luxury position that 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.

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).