England have made two changes for their crunch game against Canada as they bid to reach a sixth consecutive Women’s World Cup final.
Hannah Botterman gets a start at prop while Claudia MacDonald returns from injury to get the call on the wing.
Recently crowned most-capped player Sarah Hunter captains the side from number eight, joined in the back row by star player against Australia Marlie Packer and Alex Matthews at blindside.
Tatyana Heard continues her run at 12, with Zoe Harrison on the inside of her at fly-half and Emily Scarratt outside at 13.
This week’s podcast guest Zoe Aldcroft is at second row alongside Abbie Ward.
Red roses boss Simon Middleton said: “We are very much looking forward to returning to Eden Park for this weekend’s semi-final.
“I was really pleased with our performance against Australia in what were tough conditions. The players produced a professional performance and deserve great credit. Continuity is an important factor in team selection and we have achieved that through training, the pool stages and the quarter-final.
“Canada are an opponent we know well with great pedigree and history in the women’s game. We know they are a strong side. We respect all they might bring but are focused on our own performance. Our objective was to leave this country as a better squad than we arrived and to do that we need to move our game on again this week.
“If we do that and produce the level of performance we are capable of then we are confident we will get the right result.”
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