THE England team to compete in the Women’s Rugby League World Cup in Australia will feature four players from Warrington.

Vice-captain Jodie Cunningham, Emily Rudge, Danielle Bound and Jenny Welsby are all looking forward to their second tournament next month, having helped England push Australia and New Zealand so close four years ago.

The quartet play their club rugby for Thatto Heath-St Helens ladies.

Cunningham is one of six recalls to the 23-strong squad after missing the side’s tour to France earlier this year due to injury.

“Representing your country is the greatest honour I can think of and I’m just overwhelmed and over the moon at the fact that I’m going to get the chance to do it again,” said the 25-year-old full-back, who works in credit control for Village Hotels and lives in the town centre.

“I’ve been working for this for so long now. It’s just the icing on the cake. It means all the hard work has been worthwhile and I’ve got what I really wanted.

“I played in the 2013 World Cup that was staged in England. I played in a different position and I was at a different point in my career.

“I feel I have progressed so much since then and I’m hoping this is the one in which I can really show what I can do.”

Rudge is one of her best friends and they played together in the Cardinal Newman High School girls’ side that was crowned national champions four times.

Bound appeared in the same representative Warrington under 16s girls’ team that ventured over to Australia to play against the best club sides in the southern hemisphere.

Welsby, who lives in Woolston, is captain of the Thatto Heath-St Helens side which recently lost in golden-point extra time to Featherstone in the club competition play-offs.

The squad will fly out to Australia on Friday, November 10, and will play three pool games at the Southern Cross Group Stadium in Sydney against Papua New Guinea Orchids, Australian Jillaroos and The Cook Islands.

All Women’s Rugby League World Cup games are staged as triple-headers and will be played on Thursday, November 16; Sunday, November 19 and Wednesday, November 22.

Semi-finals will follow on Sunday, November 26 to determine which teams will feature in the decider, which will be the curtain-raiser to the men’s World Cup Final at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Saturday, December 2.