England Women's Captain Jodie Cunningham: It's amazing to see the young talent coming through

A mixture of youth and experience came together last Saturday for an Origin style clash as part of England Women’s selection process for this weekend’s match against France. 

Over 40 players from both the Senior and Knights squads took part in the fixture and England Women captain, Jodie Cunningham, is thrilled to see some of the game’s young talent included in the squad travelling to Toulouse on Saturday. 

Speaking to the press earlier this week she explained: 

“We've got quite a lot of girls that aren't up for selection because of injury and yet we've still got a ridiculous amount of talent in the group.

“I think for me, one of the things as a senior player is the strength in depth we have now - that just hasn't been there before.

"That's a credit to all the work the clubs are doing and the young girls that are coming up into the system and really pushing the likes of myself, Emily Rudge, Amy Hardcastle, and everyone else who’s been in the squad a long time.” 

With a potential of five debutants in the squad to face France, the 32-year-old believes the new additions will only raise the standards higher than they already are:

“These young girls keep pushing the bar and making us work really, really hard to get an England shirt. We're probably having to work harder now than ever before and that's brilliant because it only means the standards are getting better - it's amazing to see the young talent coming through.  

“It's exciting to see where we'll be at the end of this year or even next, because as those girls get more game time in Super League and hopefully a couple of internationals under their belt, I can only imagine how good they're going to be.” 

As England captain, Cunningham has nothing but encouragement for the game’s next generation:

“We’re a few days away from heading to France and I've messaged a couple of them and just said enjoy it, enjoy your first camp. You've been selected based on what you've done, so don't do anything different. 

“All you've got to do is what got you in the squad and all the senior girls will support you and build off the back of it.” 

England Women squad:

Caitlin Beevers, Keara Bennett (both Leeds Rhinos), Jodie Cunningham (St Helens), Anna Davies (Wigan Warriors), Amy Hardcastle (Leeds Rhinos), Zoe Harris (St Helens), Georgie Hetherington (York Valkyrie), Shona Hoyle (Leeds Rhinos), Zoe Hornby (Leeds Rhinos), Katie Mottershead (St Helens), Izzy Northrop (Leeds Rhinos), Eboni Partington (York Valkyrie) Isabel Rowe (Wigan Warriors) Emily Rudge (St Helens), Erin Stott (St Helens), Bella Sykes (Leeds Rhinos), Paige Travis (St Helens), Olivia Wood (York Valkyrie), Vicky Whitfield (St Helens). 

England’s Men and Women will play France in Toulouse on Saturday 29 June, as the French Rugby League (FFR XIII) celebrates 90 years of the game in the republic.

England Women take on France at 3.30pm (local time, 2:30pm UK), followed by the Men’s international at 6pm (5pm, UK) – and both matches will be streamed LIVE and FREE from Stade Ernest-Wallon on SuperLeague+, Rugby League’s global, direct-to-consumer streaming service.

SuperLeague+ is available online at superleague.co.uk/superleagueplus, via the SuperLeague+ app on iOS and Android devices, and on connected TV platforms (Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV).