Daniel Wales reports from Houghton Rugby Union Football Club ahead of the first match of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, set to take place at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, with several of the girls’ teams at Houghton showing off their own skills ahead of the big kick off.
00:00Now with the Women's Rugby World Cup set to get underway on Friday evening at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland,
00:06here at nearby Houghton Rugby Club, several of their girls and women's teams have been preparing for the occasion by showing off their own rugby skills.
00:15It's set to be a huge event for Sunderland and the whole North East, both in bringing world-class sport to the region and inspiring girls at grassroots level,
00:24who one day may follow in the footsteps of the current Red Roses.
00:30First up, some of those involved at Houghton explained how they got into rugby
00:34and why the Red Roses playing their first match of the tournament at the Stadium of Light is so inspiring.
00:40So I played rugby from when I was 14, off when England won the Men's World Cup in 2003,
00:46and I had loads of coaches from all over the place come and coach me and help me through my career.
00:52Now I've stopped playing as much, I want to try and give back to the local community
00:55and try and get as many women and girls playing rugby here in the North East and especially here at Houghton.
01:00So I got a little bit of early insight onto the pathway when I'd first started.
01:05I had a little bit of luck with county, and then I just kind of had different coaches,
01:10so I've learned quite a lot from them as well.
01:13I played uni rugby as well at Sunderland and just have been up playing at Houghton ever since.
01:19And I'm very fortunate to captain this absolutely amazing team.
01:22Well, I started off in school and my PE teacher asked me to come along
01:27and they said they reckon I'd be quite good at it.
01:31And I've played since I was end of year eight, so since I was around 12, and I've just not stopped since.
01:40I did a similar thing.
01:41We had one of the rugby coaches from here come into school, and he just kind of sort of brought us along.
01:47I've been since Abi joined as well in the 13s-ish.
01:49Yeah, having the Stadium of Light host the first game is absolutely huge.
01:54Most of the girls here in this section are all going to be at that game tonight,
01:58and it's just so inspiring for them to be able to see the pathway come through.
02:02So old County Durham players coming through into that England squad like Claudia MacDonald.
02:06It's amazing. I'm so excited.
02:09It's just really nice for the local girls to see, like,
02:12oh, look at these elite athletes in our area on the stage,
02:16and they can learn a lot from them. Do you know what I mean?
02:19I just think it's nice that we can, you know, it's nice and accessible so we can all go and watch it.
02:23It's really inspiring because seeing that women aren't able to get so far in rugby
02:29while a couple of years ago might not have been able to happen,
02:32it's inspiring for younger people if they want to get involved with it.
02:36It helps everyone, it helps people get encouraged to join, and I find it really good.
02:42I think it's especially good that they've brought it up north,
02:45because I feel like the north-east doesn't really get that much recognition,
02:47especially in women's rugby, so it's really good that they've brought some of it up north.
02:51It gets more people up, it gets more girls involved.
02:53Also in attendance were former England players Maggie Alfonsi and Hugo Monnier,
02:58with Alfonsi debating whether she'd still like to be involved with the Red Roses,
03:02and Monnier speaking of the benefits of having the first match in the north-east.
03:05At some points I'm like, oh, I could dust my boots off,
03:08I could get myself back on the rugby field,
03:11but at the same time I see how hard some of those women hit,
03:14and I think, no, you're right, I don't want to be tackled by any of them.
03:17But I'm just really positive to see how far it's come, you know,
03:20when you just think, when I first started playing,
03:22there wasn't many women and girls playing,
03:24there wasn't much of an interest for the sport,
03:26there wasn't much investment, and even like being now down here today
03:29at Horseman Rugby Club, and seeing all the investment
03:33that National Lottery put into the sport,
03:35what, look, £6 billion over 30 years into grassroots sport,
03:39and then £170 million of that into rugby,
03:42and in particular women and girls rugby,
03:44just really highlighted how positive it is.
03:47But yes, I do wish I was still playing,
03:49but I'm quite happy watching it from afar.
03:51I think it's massive.
03:52I look at someone like Sarah Hunter,
03:53she's a former Red Rose, a Test Centurion,
03:56she's now part of the coaching staff,
03:58she's from here, she's so proud to be here,
04:00and you're right, I think rugby union's often been considered
04:02a Southern-centric sport,
04:04so to flip it on its head to come to the Stadium of Light
04:07and to be able to take the game far and wide up and down the country
04:10is amazing, so that's fantastic.
04:13From Sunderland all the way down to Exeter,
04:15we're able to take rugby and spread the gospel of rugby.
04:18Well, we're all set now for kick-off at the Stadium of Light.
04:22Several of the girls from Houghton will be in attendance
04:24to see if England can get their tournaments off
04:27to the best possible start by defeating the USA.
04:30The North East may be seen as a football-dominated region,
04:34but rugby is certainly making itself known,
04:36and an event like this will do no harm
04:39in inspiring future generations of women's rugby players
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