Kathy Flores already has one World Cup winners' medal as a player

After winning the inaugural Women's Rugby World Cup in Wales in 1991, USA coach Kathy Flores is targeting a semi final place for the Women's Eagles in the 2010 tournament at Surrey Sports Park in England.

And should her players need advice on what it takes to perform on the biggest stage in the Women's Game then they need look no further for advice than their own coach, who played in that World Cup winning side 19 years ago.

Flores, though, who is back for her second World Cup as USA coach, has no desire to live off past glories, and it's an attitude shared by her players who are keen to write their own chapter in the USA's World Cup history.

"Our goal is to play every game as it comes, but our goal is to get into the semi final round. Yes, everyone wants to win the World Cup, but you can't do it unless you get into the semi final round," said Flores.

"Our goal is to come out hard like everyone else, to try and score as many points as we possibly can so that we are actually in contention for the semi final round."

World Cup experience

If Flores is to guide the USA to a first semi final appearance since 1998 then she'll be relying heavily on the likes of captain Ashley English, one of only three players in the squad with previous World Cup experience.

Indeed, such was the USA squad decimated by retirements in the aftermath of their 2006 World Cup campaign that when the Women's Eagles played their first post-World Cup international the following year, Flores handed debuts to 19 new players.

"We've come so far since then. I think at the beginning the team didn't know what it was like to prepare for a World Cup, what it was like to be a rugby Test athlete and now the team knows," said English.

"I think the players today basically don't want to know about yesterday. They say this is our thing and this is what we want to do and I'm all for it. If this is your World Cup, this is your World Cup and you go and you get it."

Message to rivals

The USA kick off their World Cup campaign against Kazakhstan on Friday and prop Jamie Burke, another survivor of four years ago, is desperate not only to win, but to send out a clear message to the other 11 participating teams.

"That game is a tone setter, it kicks off the World Cup, in terms of establishing ourselves as a dominant power house, so we need to go out, score a lot of points and control the game," said Burke.

"We expect Kazakhstan to be strong and physical. We've watched a game against Japan and some highlights of their matches against South Africa, so we know a little bit about what to expect.

"But we can also see in those videos that they can be a little bit shifty and have some surprises up their sleeves. We are just going to have to go out and really take control from the get go to ensure that we come out on top, and with a lot of points to advance us out of the pool play."

Of course, remaining Pool B rivals Ireland and host nation England might have something to say about that. The USA will first renew World Cup rivalries with Ireland on August 24 - having defeated them 24-11 in the pool stages in 2006 - before facing old World Cup adversaries England four days later.

Semi final place

A semi final place could well be up for grabs by the time the USA run out at the Surrey Sports Park to face England, and if that's the case Burke will be hoping that the extra pressure of being hosts might tell on the Red Roses.

"Being an underdog is always a great position because you have nothing to lose when everyone is rooting against you," admitted the prop.

"You have that extra fire from 'you know what, we can go out here and do everything' because we don't have that pressure, we don't have people with these huge expectations in terms of the fans."

Back home, the general public are still yet to fully embrace the sport of rugby, and although a large number of fans are expected to support their country this fortnight, a World Cup victory would do wonders for the team's exposure.

"A lot of people in the USA don't even know what rugby is or if they know what rugby is, that women play rugby," explained English. "So to come home with a championship would help us get a lot more publicity, players and sponsorship, so we can train more."

That said, the USA full back has also been instrumental in trying to spread the rugby word, and is determined that the development of the Women's Game should not hinge entirely on the success of the USA team in England.

Grassroots development

"I'm starting at grassroots level. I'm helping coach a high school team so I have 14 to 16-year-old girls and they don't always know that it's an asset to be strong. I'm trying to help them learn that and have confidence in themselves," said English.

"It's amazing to see what instilling a little confidence in some of those giggling little teenage girls can do, and I think rugby really does that for them.

"There's a lot of people going to be tuning in back home, both on the web cast and on the TV broadcast, and people are also following us on Facebook and on our website. I think we've done a pretty good job at getting the word out, and the word is spreading."

With Women's Rugby continuing to grow in popularity across the globe, the USA will be hoping that a good performance at the World Cup, or even a victory to rival 1991, will help to take the sport to a new level.