Great Britain's women's rugby sevens extended squad has been announced prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games ©England Rugby

The head coach of Great Britain’s women’s rugby sevens team, Scott Forrest, has announced an extended squad to compete for a place at this year’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Fifteen English players feature in the squad, including Abbie Brown, Heather Fisher and Amy Wilson Hardy, all of whom played at the Rio 2016 Olympics where Britain finished fourth.

They are joined by compatriots Holly Aitchison, Abi Burton, Deborah Fleming, Sydney Gregson, Meg Jones, Ellie Kildunne, Alex Matthews, Jodie Ounsley, Celia Quansah, Helena Rowland, Emma Uren and Beth Wilcock.

The line-up also includes six Scots in Megan Gaffney, Rhona Lloyd, Helen Nelson, Chloe Rollie, Hannah Smith and Lisa Thomson, who are part of their country's 15-a-side team for the ongoing Six Nations.

Three Welsh women – Keira Bevan, Hannah Jones and Jasmine Joyce – complete the line-up.

Joyce was the only non-English player in the final team for Rio 2016.

The announcement of the squad comes prior to its first training camp in Edinburgh this week.

The second and third camps are due to take place in April, in Wales and England, respectively.

"It’s very exciting to name this initial training squad," Forrest, who also coaches Scotland women's sevens, said.

"It has a lot of potential with some world-class athletes selected."

Holly Aitchison is one of 15 English players in the squad ©Getty Images
Holly Aitchison is one of 15 English players in the squad ©Getty Images

The 24-strong squad will be narrowed down to a final 13 just prior to Tokyo 2020, which is due to begin on July 24.

"I have been able to spend a decent amount of time with the English players and staff in their environment," Forrest added.

"With them being the one full-time squad competing on the World Series, this has been invaluable for me to get to know them better.

"I obviously know the Scotland Sevens team very well and I have had some good conversations with Ollie Phillips as well, since his appointment as Wales women’s sevens coach.

"Selection has been competitive, and I believe that we have a strong core group here.

"We will go into the first training weekend with a focus on creating the culture, developing a team identity and building relationships.

"It is great to be able to have the initial training weekends in Scotland, England and Wales.

"I think that is really important to create the right culture and the understanding of what it means to be part of Team GB."