England Rugby Captain talks to WSR

Helen Keeling spoke to the England Women's Rugby Captain - Katy McLean - about the new England kit and Women's Rugby.  

Hi Katy. First off, what do you make of England Rugby’s new home and away kits (England Rugby’s kit sponsor is now Canterbury?   I absolutely love them! I think Canterbury have done a fab job. I love the traditional white, it’s brilliant, but I can’t wait to play in the purple. Being England, you’re always in white, but to have a change and wear different colours is brilliant. It’s really, really lovely.  

The England Women’s Team, of which you are Captain, has taken seven consecutive Six Nations titles (six of them Grand Slams), it’s had some spectacular wins against the Black Ferns (New Zealand’s Women’s National Side), the team lifted the European Cup this year and you’ve personally secured over 50 Caps and have scored over 300 Test points. That’s a lot of highs! What was your best moment?   There’s been a lot of highlights. Obviously playing in the Women’s World Cup on home soil, in London, was absolutely amazing. Sadly the result didn’t go our way, but to play at Twickenham for the first time against New Zealand was a brilliant opportunity. I’ve been really lucky in my career, I’ve had some really good games, won European Cups and been involved in some close games against teams such as France. It’s been amazing and I can’t wait to get the season going, and to play at Twickenham again in the Autumn. 

Participation in women’s rugby is currently at an all-time high, with an estimated 13,000 women and girls playing the game across over 500 clubs. What’s so great about the sport and why would you encourage girls to give it a go?   There are numerous reasons to get involved. The good thing about rugby is that it’s really inclusive. It doesn’t matter about your skills, your body shape, or your fitness levels, there’s so many forms of the game to try, from tag and touch rugby all the way up to 15-a-side.   Women’s Rugby was integrated into the RFU earlier this year, and it was massive for us. They’re really pushing the women’s game right now, and there’s lots of opportunities to go and play.