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'For the Red Roses it brings that feeling of excitement and pressure - can we silence the crowd'
Women’s sport really is on the rise. The Scots have announced their first sell-out at the Hive for our game on Saturday. I’m excited to be surrounded by over 7000 Scottish people singing with passion and cheering on their home side. For the Red Roses it brings that feeling of excitement and pressure – can we silence the crowd…
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We’re into game three of the tournament, so training weeks are pretty similar now. The schedule starts to feel a little mundane so as a treat, our team manager got us access to Pennyhill Park Spa where we spent the day in the thermal pools, saunas and ice rooms.
Doing something different in camp makes you feel a bit more human again. After a couple of hours in the spa I spent an hour in the changing rooms in my robe blowdrying and straightening my hair because I could!
On Thursday we made our way up to Edinburgh. This time two years ago we travelled up to Edinburgh on a bus. It’s fair to say I definitely preferred the hour plane journey to the eight we spent on a bus that year.
The Scotland fixture in 2022 was where I received my second cap, 3 years after my first. In that time I contracted meningitis which left me hospitalised for 10 days in September 2019, and then shattered my ankle in January 2020 where I was rehabbing for a year during Covid.
To be able to go back there this weekend feels really special. I am now a contracted Red Rose, a World Cup runner-up and an inaugural WXV winner.
Scotland are a high-energy squad who like to keep the ball alive. In previous encounters, Scotland have been the team who have the highest ball in play periods, so for us, we have worked hard on how we are going to counteract that.
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Not only have we been training to meet those demands, but we have also tactically looked at ways we can stop them from finding their flow. A key threat for us to nullify is Helen Nelson at 10. If we can do this, hopefully, it disrupts the rest of their passages of play.
This week, Rugby World Cup posted an announcement stating there were ‘500 days until the World Cup’. It felt a bit surreal as it only feels like yesterday we were in New Zealand at the 2022 World Cup. As I’ve spoken about before, I think women’s rugby is in a really good place to hit that peak in 2025.
Organisations are starting to see the benefits of supporting women’s sport, sports fans are starting to see it as a high-quality, fun product and the talent on the pitch is only ever-growing! Between now and then we still have a WXV tour and another Six Nations, so there is plenty of time to lure in more fans from across the world.
But I think the announcement of our two warm-up games is hugely beneficial from a marketing perspective to see where the game is at. It has been shared that we will be hosting the Black Ferns and France prior to WXV. England vs New Zealand is seen as one of the biggest games in the women’s game, so to be able to host that at the home of English Rugby will be a spectacle in itself.
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As with France, you never really know what you’re going to get. When they’re on it, they’re on it, but when they’re slightly off it can go really wrong for them. They have been rebuilding since the World Cup and I’m excited to see what they have to offer when we play them in a few weeks and then again on home soil later in the year.
On a different note, RugbyPass TV is now streaming Abbie Ward: A Bump in the Road worldwide. This is a must-watch for any female athlete who has ever questioned becoming a mother because of their sport.
Abbie takes you on her journey from pre-birth to getting back on the pitch and some of the tough decisions she has to make on the way. It was eye-opening and has definitely created a more open conversation on motherhood in sport. You can watch it now for free on RugbyPass TV here.
Comments on RugbyPass
A Springbok 2-0 win: haha told you we were champions now shut up An Irish 2-0 win: the referee was under orders from world rugby to cheat us but luckily we don’t care because this is part of Rassie’s grand world Cup plan.
103 Go to commentsI hope they didn’t pay Jones fee?
2 Go to commentsTo be fair, the teams he's had to put out are reminiscent of those available to Gatland during his horrible run at the Chiefs in late 2020. Anyway, he's only got a two year contract and Wellingtonian Tamati Ellison will be ready by then, as will a lot of talented youngsters (like the Chiefs Gatland blooded). The Crusaders are planning for the long term.
5 Go to commentsGreat to see more community spending leading to higher participation in the community. It's a long road but that's a good first step.
2 Go to commentsPoetic justice for trying to sell him to Australia as another kiwi saviour coach, not ! Deans was just as bad actually but McCaw and Carter covered up for him. That’s why they didn’t want him as All Black coach, even after Graeme Henry’s bumbling effort in 2007.
5 Go to commentsSACK HIM !
5 Go to commentsSafas are so triggered by Ireland. 3 consecutive losses, incl RWC. 8 losses out of last 12 Tests. Always excuses, of course, with Bok fans. Now Rassie with his “88%” nonsense, the Claytons Excuse is an embarrassment to Bok teams of the past when every test mattered. Their fickle mojo will be on edge for the Ireland tour. Have the referees been appointed yet ? They will need security. Have WR laid out strict guidelines for TMO’s and replays on the stadium screens ? Will the constant stoppages from Bok forwards for cramps and bootlaces be tolerated ? We’re not talking a dominant Springbok team here, they won the LOTTO Cup and they know it whether they admit it or not. The Disney doco has their fans positively fermenting internally, its going to be a nasty hangover if they get beaten on home soil. What will the excuses be then……
103 Go to commentsGreat role model.
2 Go to commentsOne significant tell, not a single Waratahs player stopped to whinge to the ref about Finau’s tackle. They got on with playing the game. Great tackle.
8 Go to commentsWouldn’t be a bad move if Ireland pulled into SA with a young side. Particularly in Pretoria. Invaluable experience getting thumped in the bosveld.
103 Go to commentsIreland. The Princess Diana of Rugby. I never cheered so much for a team as i did for the All Blacks in that QF.
103 Go to commentsWill be great to see the Leinster first XV back in action again after their cotton wool time…
1 Go to commentsLooked up Grant Constable on google and reply was doppelgänger for Ben Smith
103 Go to commentsIt is so good that we now all get excited and debate who is best and emotionally get involved. We all back our teams which is great. Up until about 15-20 years ago, NZ was basically on its own, and then Saffa, Aussie and sometimes French and English were there. We now have at least 5-6 really top sides and another 4 who keep improving. This is so healthy. So we should not resort to rubbish comments and unhealthy debate, but rather all be chuffed that the product we watch is not competitive, exciting and often uncertain. It would be so good if World Rugger could find a way to align the rules to professional players as well as spectators. Live rugby games are SO boring as there is SO much down time as we wait for refs and TMOs and whoever else to look at every small event going back endless phases with the hope of eventually find a minute infringement to then decide cancel what was a wonderful try. This is the ultimate cork back in the bottle moment and feels like every balloon is always being popped. Come on- we must be better with the rules.
103 Go to comments“upon leaving said establishment I tripped over a stool knocking some bottles into the air and as I fell I accidently dislodged a police officer’s teaser who was passing by on an unrelated matter there by landing on said taser which caused it to discharge 50,000 watts into me. Out of shock I shouted Ireland are going to win the world cup. Upon waking up I apologised for the distress caused by my Ireland comment. The matter is closed. If you wish to pursue this matter may I remind you what I told Wayne Barnes when he sent me off. I AM A BIG ASS MAN”. Or was it “I AM A BIG ASS, MAN” or was it “I AM A BIG ASSMAN”?
2 Go to commentsThe only championship the Boks hold are: Great value for the incompetence of referees during the RWC Moaning endlessly and champions of spewing utterly ignorant 💩 at all times. Displaying the dangers of a third world education End of.
103 Go to commentsSouth Africa and Rassie do a phenomenal job of treating the 4 years in between World Cups as nothing more than a training exercise to build squad depth. The Six Nations money that keeps Irish rugby afloat is unfortunately too important to allow the same approach, and basic population size means we'll never get close to matching the depth of South Africa, England and France. That being said, Irish rugby is in a relatively good place and slowly improving inch by inch. If the other three provinces can pull the finger out and actually develop some players it'd be even better.
103 Go to commentsGood on Clarke for taking on the criticism and addressing his deficiencies, principally his laziness.
2 Go to comments“It is the people’s favourite against the actual favourite. It is the people’s champions against the actual champions. I’m joking, but it’s going to be a fantastic series.” Why did Darcy make that joke knowing it would be used as click bait? Why did RP headline it as a serious comment? Anyway, the tired comment isn’t very astute. SA players may have played more games etc. Darcy over estimated as a pundit.
103 Go to commentsNot sure Frisch will ever make the French team with Depoortère and Costes waiting in the wings to take over from Danty and Fickou.
1 Go to comments