Leeds Rhinos teenage star Fran Goldthorp looks set to make her international debut when England face Wales at the Halliwell Jones Stadium on Friday.
The Rhinos winger has been in scintillating form this season and her try-scoring exploits have earned her a place in Craig Richards’ squad, with indications that she will make the matchday 17.
“This is something I have dreamed of doing for ages,” said the 18-year-old, who was called into the England elite performance squad in May 2020.
“From when you start playing the game as a little girl, you always look up to those that are playing for England. You do dream of following them, so for it to actually be happening now is massive.
“It’s my first cap, so I am feeling, excited, nervous and all the other emotions. But there will definitely be a feeling of huge pride when I run out onto the pitch and I’m not sure it will fully sink in until the day of the game.
“The plan is just to keep focussing on the little one percenters of what I need to do and just keep training hard this week, then hopefully all my skills and ability will be able to be on show and I’ll put in a good performance.
“I’m just excited to see now how I can go on the bigger stage.
“We know Wales are fairly new to the game, so not knowing much about them means there are not going to be any real expectations on the game. It also means we will just have to adapt to what we see in front of us on the night.
“The game will also give us a chance to see what combinations work best and how we all play together as a squad. It will show our strengths and weaknesses and offer us some great preparation ahead of the World Cup.”
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