Middleton: Contracts will drive bid for No.1
WORLD Cup winners from 2014 Katy DaleyMclean, Sarah Hunter, Marlie Packer and Vicky Fleetwood are among the 28 players to be awarded full-time contracts for 2019.
In September, the RFU announced they would reintroduce contracts for 15-a-side players.
Contracts were previously awarded based on the next major tournament.
In addition to the 28, seven players are on elite player squad agreements.
Those players will come into camps and England training, but not the fulltime programme.
World Cup finalists in 2017, Sarah Bern, Rachael Burford, Vickii Cornborough, Abbie Scott and Lydia Thompson have also received contracts, as have Natasha Hunt, Emily Scarratt and Jess Breach who return to the 15s set-up from the 7s programme.
“I am confident that this group of players has the potential to grow into the world-class squad we will be looking to take to New Zealand in 2021,” said head coach Simon Middleton.
“The introduction of full-time contracts will take time to embed but will unquestionably help us to accelerate the development process. We want to become the No.1 side in the world again and we want to win the 2021 World Cup.
“This offers us a massive opportunity but with it comes massive expectation. It’s up to us to do everything we can to meet that expectation.”
England’s Six Nations campaign begins against Ireland in Dublin on February 1.