Teams named for Opens Autumn International Series

International Touch returns to the Home Nations this weekend, and the England Opens teams have been named to take on their counterparts from Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

The four nations are heading to Broughton Park RFC in Manchester for a day’s worth of capped internationals, with all the Field 1 action being live streamed on the England Touch YouTube channel.

For these teams it will be the first opportunity to test themselves at this level since the 2019 World Cup, with the Autumn Series setting an ideal platform to build on towards the 2022 European Touch Championships.

England are the reigning European Champions in both the Men’s and Women’s Open, having beaten Wales in both of those finals, and were the highest-placed European team in their respective categories at the World Cup, both finishing fifth overall.

Meanwhile Scotland’s Mixed Open team has been their strength, winning the European title in 2018 and the Bronze medal in the World Cup. Wales were the losing finalists in Nottingham and pipped England by a solitary try in the 5th/6th play-off in Putrajaya.

The England Mixed 30s team will also be in this group as the fourth team in the Mixed Open competition, with Ireland not sending a team to the north west.

The action starts at 10:30am, with the final game of the day tapping off at 5:10pm.

Men’s Open

Head Coach – Tim Osborne

Asst Coaches – Jeff Bimson, Martin Wright

Ewan Armstrong (London Scorpions), Adam Brimelow (NQ Rebels), Dom Brook (Raptors), Josh Henderson (Thames Valley Vikings), Clark Hobson (BBR), Sam Jones (Hot Custard), Will Lupton (Nottingham), Ben Meakin (NQ Rebels), Jordan Melling (Wigan Touch Warriors), Vaughan Meredith (Canterbury), Miles Partridge (CSSC London Eagles), Will Serocold (London Scorpions), Kamil Shahabdeen (Galaxy London), Dom Tripp (London Scorpions), Jon Weston-Stanley (Thames Valley Vikings)

Women’s Open

Head Coach – Ben Powell

Asst Coaches – Lexie Williams, James Butcher

Sophie Arbuthnott (Raptors), Laura Cochrane (Hot Custard), Emily Crowe (London Scorpions), Naomi Fearnett (CSSC London Eagles), Katy Fielding (Surrey Bisons), Susannah Hudson (London Scorpions), Emily Irons (London Scorpions), Sophie Lloyd (Nottingham), Kensie McNaught (CSSC London Eagles), Emma Oliver (Nottingham), Mimi Paton (Crewe and Nantwich), Danni Payten (Canterbury), Haniyyah Rahman-Shepherd (Galaxy London), Emily Rona-Roper (Galaxy London), Bronte Sykes (London Scorpions), Julia Unsworth (Galaxy London), Nicola Wise (Chester Cheetahs)

Mixed Open

Head Coach – Justin Conway

Asst Coaches – Leah Cuthbertson

Teddy Brooks (London Scorpions), Anna Crossley (NQ Rebels), Danielle Evans (Chester Cheetahs), Harry Goldman (Hot Custard), Angus Gough (Hot Custard), Isobel Hobson (Nottingham), Joshua Ingram (NQ Rebels), Jamie Ironside (Galaxy London), Tom Lawton-Davies (Thames Valley Vikings), Ella Loveridge (Nottingham), Daniel Mayall (Hot Custard), Matthew Maynard (Cambridge), Elliot Nye (Canterbury), Gabe Pennington (NQ Rebels), Toby Phillips (NQ Rebels), Alice Sommerville (Hot Custard), Alice Summers (Canterbury), Charlie Thomson (Raptors), Lauren Torley (Thames Valley Vikings)

Mixed 30s

Head Coaches – Dan Powell and Jen Jones

Asst Coach – Ryan Attwood

Martin Bunn (Revolution), Louise Carr (Thames Valley Vikings), Jonathan Clark (Yorkshire Thorns), Meghan Clayton (Wigan Touch Warriors), Jordan Crosse (Manchester Chargers), Victoria Franks (Cambridge), Glenn Jones (Cambridge), Shaun McDonald, Brent McDougall (Camelot Jesters), Keisha McLean (CSSC London Eagles), Lucy Neal-Hooke (Thames Valley Vikings), Dan Powell (Nottingham), Sam Powles (Revolution), Will Simpson (CSSC London Eagles), James Stewart (Norwich Rebels), Chris Wall (CSSC London Eagles)

The England coaches are also using the day to give other players the opportunity to experience the international stage with a series of matches between different England High Performance teams.

A Women’s Open B team will play the Women’s 27s, with a Men’s Open B team playing the Men’s 30s.

Women’s Open B

Sophie Barkham (Raptors), Emily Bayliss (Raptors), Thea Dawson (Cambridge), Eleana Ennes (Raptors), Zayley Holle (CSSC London Eagles), Rosie Kells (Bristol Jets), Georgina McKavanagh (NQ Rebels), Lucy Norburn (Cambridge), Erin Payten (Canterbury), Isobel Penniceard (London Scorpions), Emily Simon (Nottingham), Isobel Thomas (EY London Vipers), Annelise Thurley (Nottingham), Lydia Ticehurst (Canterbury), Mia Watts (Cambridge), Carly Wynne (NQ Rebels)

Women’s 27s

Head Coach – Gary Lambert

Asst Coach – Sion Atkins

Meadhbh Aheme (St Albans), Sam Bell (CSSC London Eagles), Geogia Blessed (Yorkshire Thorns), Stacey Coffin (CSSC London Eagles), Jamie Cone (Cambridge), Eimear Conroy (Cambridge), Jo Devine (Manchester Chargers), Carys Dunn (Horsham Tigers), Emily Harding (Nottingham), Katherine Jones (Cambridge), Rachael Keane (Bournemouth Lions), Sofia Luxton (Thames Valley Vikings), Eleanor Pitcher (Nottingham), Claire Rylance (Revolution), Lucy Snape (Nottingham), Hana Suzuki (Cambridge), Abigail Walters (Nottingham), Alex Willis (CSSC London Eagles), Rose Willoughby (Exeter), Anna Wilson (Cambridge)

Men’s Open B

Mark Aldous (London Scorpions), Oli Brassington (Nottingham), Sam Grant (Wigan Touch Warriors), Ben Grinter (NQ Rebels), Sam Lawton-Davies (Thames Valley Vikings), James Marsh (Raptors), Oli Maynard (Cambridge), William Murphy (Cambridge), Aaron Povall (Wigan Touch Warriors), Matthew Sandlant (St Albans), Henry Stratford (CSSC London Eagles), Zubin Tanna (CSSC London Eagles), Louis Treays (Galaxy London)

Men’s 30s

Head Coach – Matt Harper

Asst Coaches – Will Gillett, Dan Wines

Stuart Bussell (Galaxy London), Ben George (Oxford), James Herd (Surrey Bisons), Steve Holland (Bristol Jets), Tim Hughes (Oxford), Richard Jones (Nottingham), Jack Judd (CSSC London Eagles), Michael Kelly (Surrey Bisons), Jason Limerick (Thames Valley Vikings), George Miller (CSSC London Eagles), Craig Samuel (Didcot), Colin Scott (CSSC London Eagles), Tom Simpson (Thames Valley Vikings), Ollie Taylor (Galaxy London), Byron Tibbits (Bristol Jets), Tom Wells (Cambridge), Toby Williams (Bristol Jets)