England captain Sarah Hunter is ‘gutted’ to miss out on thei Six Nations Grand Slam decider against Italy this Sunday.

The Red Roses have already won the championship, but they are still bidding for a back-to-back Grand Slam title. Hunter is unable to play due to a hamstring injury.

She told Sky Sports: "It's the worst possible timing. I am so gutted. After an eight-month wait I was just desperate to finish the job, but we have a great squad going out there and I am confident they can do it.

"As a player you just want to play in the big games. The medics and coaches are right, though, even though it's been a long wait to play for England. I know the season is going to be demanding and I don't want to make it worse. I should only be out for a few weeks."

It’s not just her injury that has been making headlines this week after it was revealed Hunter will be paying for families to have free school meals at her former primary school.

She was inspired by Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford who has been fighting to end child food poverty.

She added: "I thought, 'I'd like to do something to support this', so I got in touch with my old primary school. I've still got really close ties to it, my niece goes there and my mum is a governor and lot of my friends from home have children that go there.

"I just thought that's the connection. It's where I first started playing rugby and if it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't be in this position today."