Waterman ready to take on the world

By Ali Donnelly

There are some players who are simply born to play for their country and when you speak to Danielle Waterman, it's clear she fits that bill.

Waterman, known by all as "Nolli", a nickname she's had since she was a toddler, the 25-year-old, became England's youngest senior player when she pulled on her jersey on a cold Limerick night as an 18-year-old against Ireland in 2003.

Her rise to the top seemed somewhat inevitable given her family background in the sport with her father Jim having appeared over 400 times for Bath and with her brothers both involved at representative levels of the game.

Her international career has been dotted with success with 24 tries in 35 test outings and a host of 6 Nations and England 7s titles under her belt. But one title is missing - and that's of course the World Cup, which England are desperate to lift on home soil in the coming weeks.

Waterman, now a fullback, was a dead cert to be a key player in England's World Cup effort at the start of the season, until injury struck in a club game against Lichfield when she was lining out for Worcester and a badly damaged cruciate ligament meant at least 6 months on the sideline.

"I was involved in the Nations Cup last summer and came into the club season feeling pretty good so it was a tough time for it to happen but I was confident that I could get back before the end of the season and I had a really good support network around me," she said.

First up for Waterman to miss out on was the historic two-test series against the Black Ferns, a side who present England's greatest threat to the World Cup title. She watched from the sideline as her team lost the first game but recovered to beat New Zealand at Twickenham.

"I was devastated to not be on the pitch but I was part of the squad despite being injured and I really felt part of it. I was so proud of the girls because that was a really big milestone so it made up for it in some ways."

While England prepared for the 6 Nations, Waterman worked on her physio sessons three times a week as well as various other work to speed up her recovery.

"At the start I knew it would be 6 months before I could get back on the pitch and I'm feeling very good now and still have a few weeks to go. I had to take each day and week as it came and set myself lots of little goals.I still have a small way to go in terms of say contact work but your body just has to get used to that again.

"When I was away from it I had time to really work on my weaknesses and I am feeling fitter and stronger than ever now."

With England winning the 6 Nations title and with plenty of players putting their hands up for selection in positons Waterman can play, she was as anxious as any when the selection date loomed.

"Obviously there was a lot of nerves about selection. I had had a lot of support from Gary (Street) throughout the injury but there were so many players who stood out this year both for England and England A that you just didn't know what would be happen. It is a credit to the strength and depth of the squad that lots of players were good enough to be picked and that everyone was pushed right to the end. I personally see that competition as a positive. There are a lot of us who can play in the back three for England and we all have different strengths and abilities."

At 25, Waterman is already one of the senior players on the squad, and she'll be on hand to advice some younger players like, Emily Scarratt who at 20 has made a huge impact in the team.

"To be honest Emily is very mature and grown up already that there is not much advice I need to give her. From her first cap she has just slotted in and has always been very relaxed . It's a little different now that it was for me. I hadn't played much club rugby when I made my debut for England whereas now the younger girls are coming in with Premiership experience behind themso they're used to playing at a high level pretty regularly."

Pool games

With so much time on the sideline, she's had plenty of time to ponder England's pool games.

"The USA are very physical and they are a tough team as we saw at the Nations Cup last year. Ireland are another good team and they defend very well. They pushed us very hard this year in the 6 Nations and I don't really think the scoreline reflected how much of a battle they put up.

Kazakhstan are one of those teams we haven't seen much of so it makes it hard to prepare a game-plan but they wouldn't be here if they weren't good enough."

The sports coordinator at Ribston High School, is adamant that the squad is not looking past their pool games despite being strong favourites to reach the final.

"We are not the people talking about an England, New Zealand final - we're just focusing on our pool games and qualifying for the semis first. There are lots of great times competing so everyone has got a chance. Australia and France I think will be two teams to watch and England progressing is no given despite a good buildup.

If England do win the World Cup, it means this year will have been a memorable one for Waterman, but there are other areas of her life which she may well remember this year for.

During her injury recovery this year, Waterman has watched while her mother, a strong supporter of her rugby career, recovered from cancer, something she says she drew huge inspiration from.

"My brothers and my Dad have such involvement in the game that over the years I'm sure Mum has felt left out when we've been talking about rugby all of the time but this year she's the one who has been the biggest inspriatio," she said.

"Thankfully she's now in remission and earlier this year she went out and ran the London Marathon so I don't think you can get much more inspirational than that. When I was injured and feeling down she was there regardless of what she was going through and it really put my situation into perspective and shows what you can achieve."

In a year of milestones for Waterman, you wouldn't bet against one more in the months to come.

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