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Staniford enjoying the best of both worlds

MichaelaStanifordSB
With the Rugby Sevens World Cup kicking off on Friday, England Women’s head coach Barry Maddocks has had his pick of the country’s best players for the last six months – but that is great news for the 15s insists captain Michaela Staniford.

With the Rugby Sevens World Cup kicking off on Friday, England Women’s head coach Barry Maddocks has had his pick of the country’s best players for the last six months – but that is great news for the 15s insists captain Michaela Staniford.

Along with a number of other senior players, three-time RBS 6 Nations grand slam winner Staniford was withdrawn from this year’s competition in preparation for the Sevens World Cup in Moscow.

England slumped to defeat at the hands of Ireland and France, as a weakened side finished third in the final standings, but the skipper believes the new crop will now have a taste of the highest level and a hunger to return for more.

And Staniford is enjoying the focus switching back and forth between the game’s two forms, as she seeks to win as many trophies as possible for her country.

“It is only going to increase the selection options,” she said.

“A lot of the girls in the 15s who lost out to France and Ireland are definitely going to want to play them next year. We are very proud England players and we are desperate to put that behind us.

“After Christmas we had the New Zealand tests and that was the priority for that part of the year. We did exceptionally well and won all three tests.

“As soon as January came around, we knew we had to focus on sevens. Our coach had the pick of the lot – he was able to select 17 players to go to training camp for three days a week.

“We have the 15s World Cup next year and I think the focus will shift back, but the closer to the Olympics we get, there may be another shift, depending on the funding we get.”

England head to Russia as top seeds for the World Cup and, fresh from a six-month training camp, should be in prime shape to challenge for the title.

They suffered a quarter-final exit four years ago, at the hands of Australia, before taking home the plate and Staniford is desperate to go all the way this time.

The England captain is excited to get the tournament underway and refused to accept this shift in focus towards sevens piles any added expectation on her side.

Staniford added: “I don’t think that means we have got extra pressure, but obviously we really want to do well because we lost out to early in the last Sevens World Cup. We have the potential to do very well.

“It’s really exciting. The squad has a really strong balance at the moment and we have been training together for the last six months.

“We believe our chances to be very good. It is anyone’s game and there are no easy wins so we know we are going to have to perform well. It is in our hands and it is exciting.

“We are quite focussed – it is going to be a lot of hard work but we know we have a very good chance.”