Sarah Hunter was hailed as an “absolutely brilliant” leader after being named to captain hot favourites England at the upcoming Women’s World Cup.
North Shields-born Hunter has 135 caps to her name and heads to New Zealand with a team unbeaten in its last 25 internationals.
England are the first Test-playing nation – male or female – to win 25 successive games and are widely expected to claim a third world title after wins in 1994 and 2014.
Head coach Simon Middleton said: “While this is a squad announcement and not about singling out individuals, it would be remiss not to reference our captain, Sarah Hunter.
“Sarah is a better captain now than she has ever been. She has owned the captaincy and how she represents the squad on and off the field is absolutely brilliant.
“When you work with someone for so long you sometimes need to remind yourself of her outstanding attributes, she is unbelievable in how she conducts herself.
"Her pride in and love of representing her country is as strong as ever. She is a class act and we are very fortunate to have her leading the side at this tournament.”
The squad includes six players who were part of the 2014 World Cup winning squad but 19 have yet to play in a World Cup.
World Cup-winning scrum-half Natasha Hunt is a notable omission, losing out to Lucy Packer and Claudia MacDonald.
But Middleton says he is “really confident” with the balance of a squad which he expects to improve game-on-game.
The Red Roses face Fiji in their opening pool C game at Eden Park in Auckland on October 8 before taking on France in Whangarei a week later. They finish their pool schedule against South Africa at Waitakere Stadium on October 23.
England squad
Forwards
Zoe Aldcroft (Gloucester-Hartpury, 32 caps)
Sarah Bern (Bristol Bears, 46 caps)
Hannah Botterman (Saracens, 30 caps)
Shaunagh Brown (Harlequins, 27 caps)
Poppy Cleall (Saracens, 57 caps)
Amy Cokayne (Harlequins, 64 caps)
Vickii Cornborough (Harlequins, 70 caps)
Lark Davies (Bristol Bears, 41 caps)
Rosie Galligan (Harlequins, 7 caps)
Sarah Hunter (C; Loughborough Lightning, 135 caps)
Sadia Kabeya (Loughborough Lightning, 4 caps)
Laura Keates (University of Worcester Warriors, 62 caps)
Alex Matthews (Gloucester-Hartpury, 51 caps)
Maud Muir (Gloucester-Hartpury, 11 caps)
Cath O’Donnell (Loughborough Lightning, 20 caps)
Marlie Packer (Saracens, 84 caps)
Connie Powell (Gloucester-Hartpury, 5 caps)
Morwenna Talling (Loughborough Lightning, 4 caps)
Abbie Ward (Bristol Bears, 56 caps)
Backs
Holly Aitchison (Saracens, 10 caps)
Jess Breach (Saracens, 23 caps)
Abby Dow (Wasps, 24 caps)
Zoe Harrison (Saracens, 40 caps)
Tatyana Heard (Gloucester-Hartpury, 5 caps)
Leanne Infante (Saracens, 52 caps)
Ellie Kildunne (Harlequins, 25 caps)
Claudia MacDonald (Exeter Chiefs, 20 caps)
Sarah McKenna (Saracens, 42 caps)
Lucy Packer (Harlequins, 5 caps)
Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning, 5 caps)
Emily Scarratt (VC; Loughborough Lightning, 103 caps)
Lydia Thompson (University of Worcester Warriors, 54 caps)
