A new head coach brings a new era to England’s women’s rugby league side, who have left last year’s World Cup’s campaign behind and firmly set their eyes on preparing for a trip to the Southern Hemisphere in 2026.
This Saturday’s clash with Wales at AMT Headingley Stadium is part of those preparations as head coach Stu Barrow looks to give opportunities for some of the country’s rising talents to develop alongside experienced heads, such as captain Jodie Cunningham.
Even as skipper, Cunningham is aware that almost every shirt is up for grabs as competition is high. “On the international stage, you should never feel comfortable that you’re going to get selected or get a shirt,” she said on Tuesday at the media press conference.
“With a new coach coming in, you’ve got somebody new to impress, you don’t know what his thoughts and opinions are so you’re trying to impress and feel your way into it.
“It’s exciting for everyone that they get a fresh start to put their hand up for an England shirt and for us, we know that there is a lot of young girls coming in and biting at our heels so I need to try and keep a hold of a shirt if I can for a few years.”
After a convincing 64-0 win over France back in April, Cunningham was pleased that two international women’s fixtures had been organised in 2023, especially after England were blown away by New Zealand in the World Cup semi finals a year ago.
“More internationals for me the better,” she said. “Absolutely love the opportunity to pull on the England shirt so to get the chance to do it twice this year off the back of a successful World Cup campaign as well is brilliant.
“Our girls are prepared and there is a good balance of young fresh faces and mature players in the squad as well so hopefully that all ties together to be a good outing.”
Continued professionalisation of England pathway
Cunningham works closely behind the scenes at the sports governing body the Rugby Football League (RFL) and has tracked the development of the women’s game to it’s current state, where she believes it is the sports biggest growth area.
Eboni Partington, who is highly regarded at club and international level, and Paige Travis are two players who have been followed closely by Cunningham throughout their time at St Helens, plus developments in the academy ranks at other clubs such as Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors and reigning Women’s Super League champs York Valkyrie, has pushed the standard of players entering the international setup like never before.
“The young girls coming in are already really professional and have really good attitudes and behaviours because the way that the professionalisation of the Women’s Super League is going,” she said.
“They’re not just good rugby players, they’re good people too so if you’ve got that then you’re on the way to having a great squad to work with.
“As captain and a senior player, I just try and be there and give advice and support where they need to. It’s more supporting the girls from that perspective as I’ve been around the block a few times and I’ve been there when you don’t feel good enough or off form so managing those things in camp can be difficult!”
Plans to meet the Jillaroos or Kiwi Ferns?
April’s heavy win over France, coupled with previous outings against the Welsh that have seen England post over 90 combined points, begs the question to if, or more promisingly when, the side can challenge themselves against the World Cup Champion Australia Jillaroos or Kiwi Ferns.
Both Cunningham and Barrow expressed their admiration of Fran Goldthorp, Hollie-Mae Dodd and Georgia Roche who all impressed in the NRLW last year, with the latter going on to lift the Grand Final trophy as part of the Newcastle Knights. With homegrown talent thriving down under, the skipper said that she would like more opportunities to take on the best in the world at international level.
“We don’t get enough opportunities to test ourselves against the best in the world,” she said. “It usually comes down to World Cups and then you don’t know the progress that a nation has made in between World Cup cycles.
“The England girls that have gone out to play in the NRLW proved that we have so much talent here and that we can match them. The hard work is going in on the pitch and behind the scenes to make sure that we are up there competing and Australia and New Zealand is where we’ve got to get to.”
England take on Wales in their women’s international at AMT Headingley Stadium (kick off 12pm) ahead of England and Tonga closing out their test series with the third and final test.
