With little more than a week until Women's Rugby World Cup
2010 gets underway, we catch up with Wales full back Non Evans to
find her in bouyant mood and looking forward to focusing solely on
rugby for a change.
READ NON'S PREVIOUS COLUMN >>
WATCH NON ON THIS WEEK'S TOTAL RUGBY TV
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These last few weeks have been mental, I've been really
busy with my rugby and also doing three wrestling sessions a week,
putting in the training because I won't be able to train while
I'm at the World Cup. It's been mad and I am looking
forward to a bit of a break, well just training and playing rugby.
The good news is that my knee is fine, I was training all
weekend with the squad and did everything, so all the contact. The
only thing I haven't done is a lot of kicking because that
would hyperextend my knee. I have been doing controlled kicking,
but not slamming the ball. Everything is good and I am thrilled to
be back.
I didn't play against Ireland in our warm up game the
weekend before. We thought it was a little bit too soon and there
was no point risking it, but I trained all day Saturday and Sunday,
did all the contact with the girls and was really pleased.
Damaging my LCL couldn't have happened at a worst time. I
saw New Zealand have lost a player with a knee injury and so have
England with Claire Allan. It happens, it's the nature of
rugby. I am just delighted to be back and hope it stays ok.
Fighting for places
The mood in the Welsh camp is really good, you can feel the
excitement and the buzz, everyone is so enthusiastic. It was our
last full weekend of training together and nearly everyone was
training, so we were able to work on our set plays which was really
good. We have sessions on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights,
but as our coaches said it was our last Saturday and Sunday session
in Wales.
We will have our best team available to us at the World Cup.
It was really, really noticeable in the Six Nations that we had a
lot of injuries, whereas we didn't in the season before when we
did really well and beat England. We are back to that team and
there is a really good feeling in the camp, everything is coming
together.
There is also competition for places, probably for the first
time I can remember - and I've been involved since 1996. We
have got four very, very good centres and they are all battling to
start. Any two of them could start and if someone comes off we know
we have a great player to come on.
We also have some good props, good back rows and two scrum
halves battling to get that starting jersey. We have got some
really good strength in depth, for the first time ever we are
looking good in that area. You can see it in training, everyone
wanted to be in starting line up and players had to give 100
percent the whole weekend.
It's hard to say what the starting team is going to be,
everyone is fighting for their place and it is really healthy
competition. Before we were lucky to have one good player in each
position, now we have probably got two or three.
For me personally, I just want to play to my potential and
not get injured. I've had a number of years at the top and I
want to go out on a high, I don't want to go out disappointed
if it is to be my last World Cup.
I also want to score a few tries. I've got 64 tries and
would like to get a few more tries on the board if I play really
well and play to my potential. I know 69 is the world record, it
would be nice to get that record but winning 3-0 would mean more
than me scoring those five tries.
Feel-good factor
We have an excellent team spirit, the best team spirit I have
ever seen in a Welsh squad. Everyone gets on really well, we all
pull together and there is a really good feeling. There are no
cliques like there have been in the past. It is a really good
squad.
Australia is our first game, and they are a bit of an unknown
quantity. We don't have footage of them playing. Their Sevens
record speaks for itself, but being good at Sevens does not
necessarily mean you are going to be good in 15s.
We know they had a really good victory over Samoa in their
last qualifier for the World Cup, but they have not had any further
match experience, whereas we have played the whole Six Nations, had
two training games against England and a training game against
Ireland.
Then it's South Africa next. I know they are an improving
side and did really well against Scotland in warm ups, but we have
got a lot more experience than them. They are a young side compared
to us in terms of experience.
If we beat Australia and South Africa well and get some bonus
points then even if we lose to New Zealand in our final Pool A
match we might still be able to go to the semi finals as the best
runner up.
No pressure for Wales
In a one-off game can anything can happen. We beat England
last year and England then beat New Zealand. On the day anyone can
go and win. New Zealand have lost some of their stars, Amiria Rule
in the centres is injured, and at the end of the day it is only 15
people versus 15 people.
They are world champions but that was four years ago and
England beat them. No one is talking about Wales, it is all
England, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, which is good for
us. Whenever anyone talks about Wales it is always as underdogs,
but we are quietly confident.
England can win it, if they don't win this time then they
are never going to do the job. The resources they have, they have
been semi professional for weeks, they have had a lot of camps. The
resources they have got are second to none and they have a really
good chance of doing well.
But every game they play is an evening kick-off, every game
is live on TV and the pressure is on. They probably will rise to
the occasion and do well, but we like the underdog tag and we have
got nothing to lose, no-one is expecting us to do well.
We are looking really sharp. We have got a really good
backline, really good strength in depth for the first time, there
is no weak link and probably that is the first time I have been
able to say that. If you have any money put an outside bet on
Wales!
Believe in ourselves
Sport is an unknown, at the end of the day anybody can win
and do well. Women's Rugby is a little bit different to
men's game, you don't get to watch southern hemisphere
sides play in the Tri Nations week in, week out, the top teams
don't play regularly.
Teams and players do not really know each other, which makes
it all the more exciting. We have to be confident and we have to
believe we can win or there is just no point going there.
We are aiming to win all our games, if we can beat New
Zealand it will be so fulfilling and anything can happen. In the
World Cup you have three games in just over a week and five games
in just over two weeks is a lot to endure.
Our squad are used to playing week in, week out, some of the
other teams are not used to that pressure. You are going to pick up
injuries, but you have to be mentally strong because the World Cup
is a long two or three weeks and the team that sticks together and
have a good squad will come out on top.
Hopefully that will be Wales!
Of course, once the World Cup is over, that's not it for
me as I have the Commonwealth Games in India to look forward to. I
have three weeks to get back into my wrestling then on 28 September
I fly to Delhi where I will compete in the Under 55kg class as
I'm dropping down a class.
It is really tough, unfortunately the World Cup clashes with
the Games every four years. I am focused on the World Cup now and
putting all my effort into that, but when I come back I focus on
the wrestling again. I'm really excited.
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