WIGAN WARRIORS’ excellent start to the Women’s Super League season paid dividends when seven of their players were selected for a new-look England side that recently defeated Wales 62-0 in Neath.
Six of them – Grace Banks, Anna Davies, Georgia Wilson, Molly Jones, Jenna Foubister and Izzy Rowe – started in the backs, while Eva Hunter started at second row.
Rowe was one of nine additions to the England side following the Vegas debacle as England head coach Stuart Barrow made wholesale changes.
Now the 18-year old is hoping to keep up her form to get a place in the England squad for next year’s World Cup.
“It’s everyone’s dream to play in the World Cup,” she said. “There’s going to be a lot of competition, but I’m happy to face it and do all I can to get on the plane to Australia.”
Whilst she was named player of the match, Rowe wasn’t completely happy with her performance for the whole game.
“I think the first half I was a little bit shaky,” she said. “I probably wasn’t the happiest with my performance going into half-time, but going in into the sheds, the girls just told me just enjoy it, soak it all up.
“But I’m playing with an amazing set of girls, so they made the job really easy.
“We’ve got a lot of fresh faces and the girls that have come into camp have really taken everything on board. We’ve not played together a lot and I think we did really well today.
“They’ve settled into camp and into the squad really, really well.”
Rowe was pleased to have played alongside her Wigan teammates and is enjoying her season at the Warriors.
With 74 goals for Wigan, she currently leads the goals and points scoring chart for the English elite women’s domestic game this season (Super League and Challenge Cup), adding nine more goals to that tally on Saturday.
“I’m loving it,” she said. “Playing under Denis, playing with all the girls at Wigan, it’s a dream. So I’m really happy.”
In addition to playing alongside her Wigan teammates, she faced up against another in Carys Marsh, who won her tenth Wales cap in the game.
Normally featuring from the bench for her club, Marsh started for Wales and immediately faced her seven club mates.
“Going up against them was a bit weird,” she said. “But it’s one of those things. They may be teammates normally, but as soon as they’ve got an England shirt on, they’re just the opposition.
“So we just had to treat it like any other game.”