WHEN the two best teams in women’s rugby go head to head this weekend, a Worcester girl will be in the thick of the action.

England host reigning world champions New Zealand at Esher RFC tomorrow (4pm) and Alice Richardson, who plays her club rugby for Richmond, starts at inside-centre.

The 22-year-old from Inkberrow, who also plays fly-half, spent five years playing for Worcester, before changing clubs when she moved to London to attend St Mary’s University.

Richardson, who will be winning her 20th cap, is the current incumbent of the England number 12 shirt and she is dreaming of keeping her place in the side for next year’s IRB women’s rugby world cup in London in August and September.

Tomorrow’s clash with the Black Ferns will be the first time the two sides have met since New Zealand beat England 25-17 in the 2006 world cup final.

Although Richardson didn’t play in that match, she is desperate to set the record straight and help England beat New Zealand for the first time since 2001.

She said: “This is a massive game for me — the biggest I’ve ever played in — and it is a big opportunity with next year being a World Cup year.

“They are very experienced around seven, eight and nine and it will be a tough battle.

“Their full-back, Amarilla Marsh, was the leading scorer at the last world cup and is a real threat, so we’ll have to watch her closely.

“We went to play in Canada for three-and-a-half weeks in August but, since then, all the talk has been about these games with New Zealand — it is on everyone’s minds.

“I hope to keep playing and training in London ahead of next year’s world cup — and hopefully I can keep my place in the side.

“It will be difficult though because there is lots of competition for my position in the squad as well as in the ‘A’ team.”

Although her studies have taken her to London, Richardson insists she would relish turning out for Worcester again in the future.

She added: “I was born in Worcestershire and lived in Inkberrow before moving to London to go to uni.

“My brother Jim played at Worcester and was signed up to the academy, which got me interested in rugby.

“I joined the club when I was about 14 and played right through the under 16s and 18s into the first team before leaving when I was 19 to go to London.

“The under 16s and 18s set up at Worcester is the best in the country with their coaching and facilities. If I’d not left to come to uni, I’d still be playing for Worcester now. If I ever move back to the area, they are the only club I’d play for.

“Because of where I live now, I do go and watch Harlequins play some times, but I always keep an eye out for the Warriors’ score.”

Alongside Richardson in the England team will be two current Worcester stars — wing Kat Merchant and blindside flanker Heather Fisher — while hooker Sam Reeve is on the bench. Former Worcester number eight Catherine Spencer, now with Bristol, captains the side.

Richardson added: “During my time at Worcester, I played alongside Kat — right from the under 16s to the first XV. We have came up through the ranks together and are really good friends.”

After tomorrow’s clash, England ‘A’ will then take on the Kiwi tourists at Esher on November 17, before the senior teams again do battle — this time at Twickenham — directly after the men’s match.