Injured Red Roses duo replaced in England squad ahead of Scotland game

Injured Red Roses pair Natasha Hunt and Morwenna Talling have been replaced in England’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad.

Both sustained leg injuries in the second half of England’s 33-12 win over Ireland in front of a tournament record crowd at Allianz Stadium.

At full-time Red Roses head coach John Mitchell confirmed that the pair will be out “long-term” and would be replaced in the squad.

“They’ll be long-term, sadly,” Mitchell said on Saturday. “We’ve got some good diagnosis on that already. We’ll explain what they are – I’m not technically good enough [to explain] at this point of time. But we’ve acknowledged they are out of the tournament.”

Uncapped Trailfinders Women forward Haidee Head and seven-cap Saracens back Sydney Gregson have replaced the Women’s Rugby World Cup winning duo at Pennyhill Park. Australia-born Head recently started at No.8 for England U21 Women as they beat Spain’s senior side 29-17.

Hunt and Talling will see specialists in camp this week before returning to their clubs to begin rehabilitation in conjunction with the Red Roses medical team.

In Round 2 of the Women’s Six Nations, England play Scotland at Scottish Gas Murrayfield. The Edinburgh clash is set to be a Scottish record for a standalone women’s sporting event in the country with over 25,000 tickets sold.