Right now I am hitting all of those and it’s a great place to be.”To France this weekend, and Daley-Mclean says the away fixture is one of her favourites.
Talking “rubbish” is a lot easier for the pair these days as club-mates, as they often discuss everything from missing rugby socks to trying to decipher some of the slang used by their teenage team-mates over a cup of coffee and cake in their favourite Loughborough patisserie, which Hunter enthusiastically points out featured in television series, Bake Off: The Professionals. Now I feel much more in control and I am really enjoying it.". I had to learn my trade through experience .You have to build it up and I am really happy with where I am now.”Daley-Mclean is one of the few players who has experienced professionalism in both the sevens game and the 15s game, having been contracted to the Olympic squad and then the World Cup squad. If that was a few years ago I would have been terrified of losing rugby - it was everything.
We had a really tight knit group last year because you spend so much time together in a World Cup year and now we've had all these new faces come in and give it a really new energy - they just want to play and enjoy it.”If she had to give herself some advice all those years ago when she was starting out what would be it? This gives her sparring partner the perfect opportunity to chip in: “Katy would make a really good coach. Katy Mclean and David Wilson: How two players from the same Under-11 team are eyeing World Cup success with England e-mail Most watched Sport videos Brendan Rodgers salutes Vardy hat … Seeing this lighter side brought out by one of her closest and oldest friends gives a glimpse into the character that her team-mates see. It's those kinds of memories you take with you and you live for games like that.”She knows France present a serious obstacle to England’s title hopes on Saturday.
Amy Turner came running at me to celebrate and instead in her excitement, she knocked us both over. With the England XVs squad in a state of flux with a number of high-profile retirements, including that of England’s most capped player, prop Rocky Clarke and veteran full-back Danielle Waterman, Daley-Mclean is a “trusted sounding board". The difference in their dispositions, with Daley-Mclean, the direct plain speaker to Hunter’s more sensitive and gentle exterior (belying a steely determination) is what the former believes was part of England’s recipe to success in securing the 2014 World Cup. She is back working as a teacher now and is impatient for the 15s game to keep progressing.
I wasn't sure that 10 teams would be competitive and what you've ended up with I think is a top six and then a bottom four, and that's very similar to lots of leagues and I think the quality of the players we're unearthing is proof that's it's working - someone like Charlotte Pearce for example getting picked up for her club form. This is a great place to be.”. France had a chance to win it, but the kick fell short and I was able to kick the ball into the stands. "She has no problem vividly recalling her favourite game in France. Hunter says: “This year with having the change in squad, I sometimes go in and have a chat with Katy to get her opinion.
We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Hunter has made her intentions clear that coaching is where she sees herself post-playing. In the form of her life, we spoke to England's playmaker Katy Daley-Mclean who talks professionalism, her desire to play on, England's young guns and what the future holds as well as looking ahead to this weekend's game against France. Katy Daley-Mclean is too modest to say she is playing the best rugby of her life, but England’s outstanding fly-half agrees she has found something extra over the past year. Sometimes Katy will just tell things as they are. It's called Le Crunch for a reason. Barcelona have shared a trailer for a new documentary in which Shakira, Gerard Pique's wife, watches on as Liverpool come from behind to knock them out of the Champions League Latest News Mum 'murdered' after car 'mows her down after mounting kerb deliberately' Blackburn police have launched a murder enquiry and made an arrest after Alison McBlaine died with her son, 12, at her … Long before they were international team-mates, the pair were friends, first meeting through playing league for Gateshead Thunder because of the limited opportunities for girls to play rugby union in the North East. “I want the game to become professional. Zola, the wedding company that’ll do anything for love, is reinventing the wedding planning and registry experience with a free suite of planning tools. KATY McLEAN Sport: Women’s rugby sevens Date of birth: 19/12/85 Home town: South Shields Club: Darlington Mowden Park In 2014 Katy Mclean captained England to … Everything You Need In One Place
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Almost two decades ago on the back pitches of Gateshead International Stadium, two 14-year-old rugby league players forged a friendship which would lay the foundations for a major turning point in English women’s sport.
As Daley-Mclean, England’s fly-half, reminisces about her first impression of her old pal as a “very smiley big ball-carrier,” and Hunter, a back-row forward, pulls a face of mock disgust at their “hideous black and orange,” strip, a more giddy side is revealed of the pair. She received an MBE in the 2014 New Year Honours.
“She was more than a vice-captain, she was a really good friend and knowing I had her in my corner was really important. If they thought I wasn't getting the balance right they would call me on it very quickly. “I think I am at my most consistent right now. I think it's important to remember how they will have felt then going into this one, we were obviously elated but it won't be a happy memory for them.”Post World Cup seasons always throw up new talent, and England are no different with players like Ellie Kildunne and Charlotte Pearce bursting through. Am I enjoying it? “It would be not to rush my development.
There’s a picture of it somewhere.
This gives her sparring partner the perfect opportunity to chip in: “Katy would make a really good coach. “I have always been lucky with the people around me. “Sarah would be the good cop – would you look at that smiley face,” Daley-Mclean says. But sometimes it is just about going and talking rubbish.”. They've done very well. Considering the success the friendship has led to in their playing careers, there is no writing off a Hunter-Daley-Mclean coaching ticket for the next chapter of their story. “Actually it's been a surprise to me how well it's worked.
This was the beginning of a golden period for English women’s team sport, including Team GB’s Olympic hockey gold in 2016, England winning the cricket World Cup last summer and English netball’s gold at this year’s Commonwealth Games. Finn Russell and Adam Hastings to miss Autumn Nations Cup leaving Scotland with fly-half dilemma, Weekly Covid cases across the Gallagher Premiership increase with eight players testing positive, Richard Cockerill calls for action on 'nasty tackle' that has left centre George Taylor facing three months out, Wayne Pivac has backing of Welsh Rugby Union after five-match winless run. If the France game this weekend was my last game of rugby I would say, how lucky am I to have played so often for England and captained my country? “We are very different people and see things very differently, I probably get a bit sensitive about things. “After the World Cup last summer I was frustrated to find myself repeating what I had said after the World Cup in 2014, about how the game needed to move forward. Hunter, the England captain is always articulate in her dealings with the media and presents herself as a deadly serious athlete. “I think I am at my most consistent right now. Otherwise we go backwards. [3], McLean was named in the squad for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
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Daley-Mclean is a little more reticent, but would like to work in elite sport. Hunter protests: “But I can get angry, though.” Daley-Mclean has the final word: “But your anger is mild, I would be the enforcer!”. I wanted to be the best ten straight away and I probably didn't realise the patience needed. Katy has been that missing piece of the jigsaw for me.
[1] She plays rugby union at fly-half for Loughborough Lightning in Premier 15s. Daley-Mclean has been in brilliant form for England in this 6 Nations, as she was throughout the entirety of 2017. We are right on the edge now aren't we? The intensity of the training we do now has gone through the roof and it's harder and harder to be able to keep that up and work. That’s just great to see.”With a renewed love for the sport, the Darlington Mowden Park Sharks number 10 also has a new surname this year, having gotten married recently, and she says that has her life has changed over the years, she has been lucky with the rock solid support she has had from family and friends who have helped her develop a real balance to her life. Katy Mclean used to have to balance school teaching with her role as captain of England's rugby team. That time in late 1990s and early 2000s elicits much laughter and memories now from England stalwarts Sarah Hunter and Katy Daley-Mclean. Daley-Mclean is a little more reticent, but would like to work in elite sport. “She helped with all the bits of the captaincy, that I was rubbish at, or just when I needed extra support. And do the coaches still want me? “I love playing France and this set of fixtures with France, Scotland and Italy away is always my favourite Six Nations year.