Rugby World

MY LIFE IN PICTURES… KATY DALEY-MCLEAN

WORLD CHAMPIONS!

“This makes me want to cry a little bit. So much went on that year – beaten by France away, staff changes, Sophie Hemming got a nasty injury, the stress of sorting the sevens contracts, so World Cup preparation wasn’t ideal. But if you could bottle success it would be that moment.

“As for the final against Canada, it was close, then Scaz (Emily Scarratt) scored. I remember looking at the scoreboard with 78 minutes on the clock and knew we’d done it even if we conceded.

“I’d done so many interviews about being bridesmaids, could England ever lift the trophy, did we have the mentality to win etc, so to do it was amazing.

“We had a good night, too. After the function, we went to a bar in Paris with all our families and enjoyed it as a squad. Alex Payne from Sky Sports came out the next morning to do a big piece on us and we hadn’t been to bed!”

EARLY DAYS

“This was against an Irish President’s XV and while it was capped for us, it wasn’t for them, so we sang the anthem in the tunnel before the game. We used to play a lot of one-off games like this leading into Christmas.

“I was first capped in 2007, so I must have been around 22 here. I’d only had one start at ten in

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Rugby World

Rugby World4 min read
In Touch
The recent citing complaint against Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom was just the latest in a long line of pointless disciplinary actions. Hanekom was cited for an illegal tackle he made on Fraser Dingwall in the Bulls’ Champions Cup tie at Northampton. It
Rugby World6 min read
The Making Of Marcus Smith
MARCUS SMITH is the pin-up playmaker who has lit up the English game since being fast-tracked to train with the national team while still a schoolboy at Brighton College. There is no one quite like him in the Gallagher Premiership, where he is a phos
Rugby World3 min read
Downtime With… Simone Ferrari
DO YOU have any phobias? I’m scared of spiders but I try to not kill them because in Italy it means bad luck. So any time I see a spider in my house I put them outside the window without hurting them. What really annoys you? War movies. I think they’

Related Books & Audiobooks