England Women's Sevens squad announced

Ahead of the next two legs of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, England Women's head coach Simon Middleton has announced his squad. 

14 of England's leading female sevens stars are heading to Atlanta, USA for the upcoming leg on 9-10 April before heading to Canada for the 16-17 April leg.

Rugby Sevens was traditionally a core sport for men only, however it was announced in October 2014 that a women’s competition will be added to the program for the first time in Commonwealth Games history.

Middleton's women will be aware that the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games is now less than two years away and is a significant moment in the history of Women's Rugby Sevens. 

However, current focus is on the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series with England having recently slipped to fifth in the series standings.

England will get a taste of what's to come at Gold Coast 2018 when they take on series leaders Australia first in Atlanta this weekend. 

Middleton said: "Atlanta is a fantastic draw for us with Australia as our first game. "They're a side we don't play that often and if we want to improve, we need to be able to go out and beat those sides.

"We're only going to get confident at beating them by playing them and that's exactly the opportunity we've got in Atlanta."

England Squad: