The excitement surrounding Women's Rugby World Cup 2010 has
been cranked up another few levels, as one by one the participating
teams descended upon the Surrey Sports Park on Monday.
This leafy corner of Guildford suddenly finds itself the
epicentre of the Women's Game, as 12 countries from around the
world on Friday will begin battling it out for the right to hold
aloft the World Cup at the Twickenham Stoop on 5 September.
All teams are now in situ at the Surrey Sports Park and they
have been eagerly acquainting themselves with the superb facilities
on offer at the multi-million pound complex, before the tournament
kicks off on Friday with Canada v Scotland at 12:00 local time.
New Zealand, the three-time defending champions, were the
first to arrive at the tournament venue on Saturday and the setting
brought back a few memories of the first World Cup for the
experienced Black Ferns fly half Anna Richards.
"The grounds are immaculate, the sports facilities are
amazing and it's actually sunny so you can't ask for much
more really," explained Richards, who was called up to the
squad for what will be her fifth World Cup after injury ruled out
Amiria Rule earlier this month.
Fond memories
"It reminds me of 1991 because we were in a University
campus in Cardiff. It's quite cool, you get to see a few of the
other teams and catch up with a lot of the players. It will be
quite nice to be here and see some teams play, catch up with people
and actually soak up the atmosphere."
The Black Ferns' first opponents South Africa were one of
10 teams who arrived on Monday with captain Mandisa Williams
leading her teammates in a recovery session and their first light
training run.
After only making their World Cup debut in 2006, South Africa
could be dark horses and bring an unbeaten four-match record this
year into the tournament after series wins over Kazakhstan and
Scotland.
England captain Catherine Spencer was also itching to get the
tournament underway after the hosts arrived at Surrey Sports Park
following a week's training camp at Wellington College.
"It's fantastic to finally be here at the venue and
know that we are now just days away from the start of this World
Cup," said Spencer. "Surrey is a fantastic venue for this
tournament, and already we have seen several of the teams around
the facility looking like they are really enjoying themselves.
Four-year wait over
"Our first game is against Ireland on Friday and we know
that is going to be a seriously tough opener, but now we just
can't wait to take to the field."
The USA have been in Guildford for a week now, having elected
to arrive early to acclimatise to the different conditions and time
difference, and a few days ago captain Ashley English was already
bubbling with excitement as kick-off approached.
"I'm excited to finally play games," said
English, whose side open their bid for a first world crown since
the inaugural tournament in 1991 against Asian champions
Kazakhstan.
"We've been working towards this for the last four
years since the last World Cup, we've been doing all the work
in the weight room, doing all the work at the track, playing
international matches all with this in mind. Now that we're
here its so exciting and whole team is really excited and really
ready to play our first match."
IRB Tournament Director Philippe Bourdarias added: "The
IRB has been working towards this tournament for the past two years
and we are delighted that it has now finally arrived. We are now
looking forward to Friday and the beginning of what promises to be
a hugely exciting and entertaining Women's Rugby World
Cup."
