WA WALLAROOS EYE WORLD CUP GLORY

WA Women’s rugby star Debby Hodgkinson will lead the Aussie assault in the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup to be played in England next month and will be joined by fellow West Australian Rebecca Clough.
The Wallaroos 26 female squad was named on Wednesday with eight players, including Hodgkinson, having the chance to complete a rare World Cup double. Wallaroos coach John Manenti has included the majority of Australia’s World Cup-winning Women’s Sevens team with five players returning for their third tilt at Rugby’s biggest prize.

Reigning world champions Hodginkson, Cheryl Soon, Alex Hargreaves, Tobie McGann, Tui Orbsby, Nicole Beck, Tricia Brown and Ruan Sims each bring with them the invaluable experience and achievement of toppling New Zealand in the final of the inaugural Sevens tournament in Dubai last March.

Australia could become the first nation to unite the Sevens and 15-a-side Rugby World Cup titles but have been handed a challenging assignment at the sixth-edition of the tournament which will run from August 20 to September 5.

The Wallaroos have been drawn in the same Pool as defending champions New Zealand, fellow southern hemisphere heavyweights South Africa and Six Nations Champions Wales.

Clough earned her first Wallaroos cap against Samoa last year and the second rower will be hoping to get further opportunities on the big stage as part of an impressive Australian pack.

“At the last World Cup in ’06 we had 10 standout players and the rest were working really hard to catch up,” Manenti said.

“This time around we have 30 who could have made the squad and everyone in the squad is capable of starting.”

Manenti will name the Wallaroos captain when the team assembles on 9 August.

The 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup will be the sixth time teams from around the globe have battled for the coveted prize, although only the fourth occasion in which Australia has competed.

After finishing fifth in 1998 and again in 2002, the Wallaroos filled seventh position at the most recent event in Canada in 2006, where New Zealand beat England in the decider and France finished third.

The Wallaroos will open their WRWC campaign on Friday 20 August with a hit out against Wales at Surrey Sports Park before taking on New Zealand on Tuesday 24 August and finalising the pool rounds with their match against South Africa on Saturday 28 August. The finals will be staged at Twickenham Stoop in London.

Pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, Wales, Australia, South Africa
Pool B: England, USA, Ireland, Kazakhstan
Pool C: France, Canada, Scotland, Sweden
(top four on points progress to semis)

WA Profiles

Name: Debby Hodgkinson
Club: Cottesloe (WA)
Position: No.8
Nickname: Zon
Height: 178cm
Weight: 82kg
Date of Birth: 22/11/1980
Representative Honours: Australia (2002-), Australian Sevens (2008-)

The most decorated player in Women’s Rugby last year, Debby Hodgkinson cleaned up every accolade that was on offer in 2009 following an outstanding season. After steering the Australian Women’s Sevens team to World Cup glory and being crowned player of the Series, Debby was also honoured as the IRB’s Women’s Personality of the Year and then named Australia’s best Sevens player, man or woman, at the John Eales Medal. The affable No.8 burst onto the scene as a 21-year-old back in 2002 and has improved and matured into one of the world’s benchmark Women’s Rugby players. Born in the UK in Middleborough, Debby could have just as easily been leading England’s Women’s Rugby charge against the Wallaroos; however it was to Australian Rugby’s gain that her family relocated to Perth when she was a child. A proud Western Australian, Debby carries the unusual nickname Zon, which she earned after being shortlisted to be on the TV show, Gladiators. She lists Qantas Wallabies skipper Rocky Elsom as her favourite sportsman.

Name: Rebecca Clough
Club: Cottesloe (WA)
Position: Second row
Nickname: Cloughy
Height: 178cm
Weight: 78kg
Date of Birth: 14/11/1988
Representative Honours: Australia (2009-)

Rebecca Clough is one of two Wallaroos who hail from the west coast of Australia, where star backrower Debby Hodgkinson also calls home. Originally from Epping in Sydney’s north west, the mobile second rower made her debut for Australia against Samoa last year and says her proudest moment to date was pulling on the gold jersey for the first time and singing the national anthem alongside her teammates, which is something she had always dreamed of achieving. Rebecca, 22, is studying a Bachelor of Criminology and Juvenile Justice at Edith Cowan Universtity in WA. She is one of four children from an accomplished sporting family, Rebecca’s dad, brother and uncle all played for Eastwood in Sydney’s club Rugby competition.


Wallaroos 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup Squad

Iliseva

Batibasaga

QLD
Nicole

Beck

NSW
Tricia

Brown

QLD
Cheyenne

Campbell

QLD
Rebecca

Clough

WA
Kristy

Giteau

ACT
Alexandra

Hargreaves

ACT
Ashleigh

Hewson

ACT
Debby

Hodgkinson

WA
Tobie

McGann

NSWC
Danielle

Meskell

NSW
Cobie - Jane

Morgan

NSW
Lindsay

Morgan

ACT
Tui

Ormsby

NSW
Shannon

Parry

QLD
Silei

Poluleuligaga

QLD
Kate

Porter

ASRU
Chris

Ross

NSW
Se'ei

Sa'u

QLD
Megan

Shanahan

NSWC
Ruan

Sims

NSW
Cheryl

Soon

NSW
Rebecca

Trethowan

NSWC
Caroline

Vakalahi

ASRU
Margaret

Watson

NSWC
Sharni

Williams

ACT


At a glance:
Eight members of the World Cup winning Sevens team included in WRWC squad
5 players returning for third WRWC – Ruan Sims, Cheryl Soon, Tui Ormsby, Debby Hodgkinson, Alex Hargreaves
Kristy Giteau features in her first WRWC squad and potentially has the chance to complete a remarkable family double, alongside younger brother star Wallabies playmaker Matt Giteau, by competing at Rugby World Cups in consecutive years
Kate Porter is an Army Lieutenant and Caroline Vakalahi is an Australian Army Officer
Ambulance officer Danielle Meskell will compete in her first WRWC three months shy of her 37th birthday and is one of six players who play club rugby for Warringah (NSW ) in the squad
Tui Ormbsy works as a police officer, Ashley Hewson a correctional officer, Tobie McGann a radiation therapist and Sharni Williams is a mechanic

http://rugbywa.com.au/news/article,58664.html