PLAYING for England is an honour, but when one of your best friends is in the team too it is extra special.

That is the position Warrington’s Emily Rudge and Jodie Cunningham continue to find themselves in as the Women’s Rugby League World Cup gets underway in Australia.

They have been playing the sport together for club and country since school days, when they also enjoyed huge success.

Warrington Guardian:

Side by side are Emily Rudge and Jodie Cunningham, centre, with Cardinal Newman's champion girls' rugby league team of 2005

England vice-captain Cunningham, 25, said: “Emily Rudge is one of my best friends and she’s the reason I play now.

“We went to Cardinal Newman High School and the year we started there they also started the national championships for girls.

“Emily had played rugby league with the boys when she was younger so she was really keen on us starting a team and entering.

“She got quite a lot of the girls to join. I’d never played rugby before and it wasn’t something that particularly interested me if I’m honest.

“It wasn’t until I saw how well they were doing and how much fun they were having that I thought I could give it a go.

“I started playing and fell in love with the sport from there. We were four-times national champions for Cardinal Newman and I’ve never looked back.

Warrington Guardian:

Emily Rudge, fifth from left on the back row, and Jodie Cunningham, far left on the front row, with the Warrington Sports Personality award-winning Cardinal Newman girls' rugby league team at The Halliwell Jones Stadium in 2007

“Emily and I were 12 when we started playing together and we’ve been side by side ever since.

“It’s great to be able to play with one of your best friends, with the amount of time you spend away from home.

“It’s nice to have a bit of home comfort, somebody who understands you and somebody to lean on.”

Warrington Guardian:

Emily Rudge, left, and Jodie Cunningham at this week's official England World Cup photo shoot in Australia. Pictures: NRLPhotos

They are both members of the Thatto Heath-St Helens team whose skipper Jenny Welsby, who also lives in Warrington, is with them in the squad preparing to face Papua New Guinea in their World Cup opener in Sydney tomorrow, Thursday.

Cunningham said she also benefits from the time she spends with Welsby.

“She’s fantastic. We spend hours in the gym together and it just makes training that little bit easier when you’ve got somebody going through it with you, pushing you on a down day when you don’t feel too good and you’re tired, she’s there and pushing you.

“It’s been great training together and hopefully she can help us win the World Cup.”

Warrington Guardian:

Jenny Welsby. Picture: NRLPhotos

The fourth player of the Warrington contingent, Danielle Bound, who has recently moved to Portsmouth, has always impressed Cunningham.

“She’s a few years younger than me and I remember seeing her play for the first time,” she said.

“Dani’s just a natural rugby player, you can see it straight away, she stands out a mile.

“She plays hooker and hopefully she’s going to have a brilliant World Cup like last time. We all played in the 2013 World Cup so we’re hoping to all back it up and feature in this one.”

Warrington Guardian:

Danielle Bound. Picture: NRLPhotos

The England team named for the opner against PNG includes Cunningham at full back, Welsby at scrum half, Bound and Rusdge on the bench.

England Women:
1 Jodie CUNNINGHAM
2 Tara-Jane STANLEY
3 Amy HARDCASTLE
4 Jessica COURTMAN
5 Charlotte BOOTH
6 Kirsty MORONEY
7 Jenny WELSBY
8 Emma SLOWE
9 Lois FORSELL
10 Danika PRIIM
11 Shona HOYLE
12 Beth SUTCLIFFE
13 Andrea DOBSON (c)
14 Danielle BOUND
15 Chantelle CROWL
16 Emily RUDGE
17 Katherine HEPWORTH
18 Faye GASKIN
19 Rachel THOMPSON