Rugby World Cup 2021 - Symbol
Sign up for the latest news and ticket information.
Sign Up
rugbyworldcup.com
World Rugby
Website language English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
Rugby World Cup 2021 - Symbol Rugby World Cup 2021 - Symbol Rugby World Cup 2021 - Logo
Listen Live
  • Matches
  • Pools
  • News
  • Video
  • News
  • Teams
  • Matches
  • Pools
  • Video
  • Tickets
  • Visit
  • Venues
  • About RWC 2021
  • Qualifying
  • Volunteer
  • HOSPITALITY
  • Media
  • Women In Rugby
  • Back to Rugby World Cup
  • Back to World.Rugby
Website language English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
  • Visit
  • Venues
  • About RWC 2021
  • Qualifying
  • Volunteer
  • HOSPITALITY
  • Media
  • Women In Rugby
  • Back to Rugby World Cup
  • Back to World.Rugby

Our Social Channels

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Latest News
Rugby World Cup 2021 Draw

RWC 2021

Tue 2 March, 2021

Rugby World Cup 2021 statement

World Rugby has made the difficult decision to recommend the postponement of Rugby World Cup 2021, scheduled to be hosted in New Zealand between 18 September-16 October, until next year.
Springbok Women

RWC 2021

Tue 23 February, 2021

Springbok Women ready to step out of the shadows at Rugby World Cup 2021

South Africa’s new women’s rugby high performance manager Lynne Cantwell hopes Rugby World Cup 2021 will help inspire a new generation of players.
Kelly Brazier playing Hong Kong at RWC 2017

RWC 2021

Tue 23 February, 2021

Kelly Brazier “pumped” ahead of potential Olympic-Rugby World Cup double

We caught up with the two-time Rugby World Cup winner, who is hoping to play at both Tokyo 2020 and New Zealand 2021.
Women's International: Spain v Scotland

Rugby World Cup 2021

Thu 18 February, 2021

Women’s Rugby Europe Championship: Spain ready to start their road to Rugby World Cup 2021

Las Leonas have a key game against Russia this weekend in Guadalajara in the Women’s Rugby Europe Championship, aiming to continue chasing their dream of qualifying for Rugby World Cup 2021.
Bella Milo playing for Valley

Women in Rugby

Wed 17 February, 2021

Bella Milo: Rugby World Cup 2021 could have huge impact on women’s rugby in Hong Kong and Pacific Islands

The Samoa fly-half talks to World Rugby about New Zealand 2021, coaching and how she hopes to “give back” to the game.
Latest Videos
WR-WC2021-Announcement
01:31 mins

RWC 2021

Tue 2 March, 2021

Alan Gilpin on Rugby World Cup 2021 recommendation

World Rugby Interim Chief Executive Alan Gilpin explains the recommendation to postpone Rugby World Cup 2021 in New Zealand until next year.
WR awards thumb
1:36:38 mins

Awards

Mon 7 December, 2020

World Rugby Awards Special Edition - watch the whole show

Re-live the World Rugby Awards Special Edition and find out the winners of the Player, Try and Team of the Decade 2010-19 for both men and women, plus celebrate rugby's heroes of COVID-19.
Full Draw ceremony for Rugby World Cup 2021
27:21 mins

RWC 2021

Thu 19 November, 2020

Full Draw ceremony for Rugby World Cup 2021

Live show hosts and interviewers react post-draw
01:20 mins

Thu 19 November, 2020

Live show hosts and interviewers react post-draw

Live programme hosts Elma Smit and Ugo Monye spoke with New Zealand broadcasters and co-hosts Karl Tenana and Rikki Swannell after the draw.
Alycia Washington USA post-draw interview
03:04 mins

Thu 19 November, 2020

Alycia Washington USA post-draw interview

Women in Rugby
Friday 15 January, 2021

Katy Daley-Mclean “overwhelmed” by reaction to England retirement

Presented By
Daley-Mclean, who was picked at fly-half in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Team of the Decade, looks back on her trophy-laden career in international rugby.
  • label.share.via_facebook_messenger
  • label.share.via_whatsapp
  • label.share.via_facebook
  • label.share.via_twitter
  • label.share.via_copy
    URL Copied

Katy Daley-Mclean had a couple of weeks to get used to life as a former England player before news of her international retirement broke on the Friday before Christmas.

She had discussed the decision with England coach Simon Middleton, the RFU’s head of women’s performance, Nicky Ponsford, and had also alerted her team-mates.

Daley-Mclean was content to be leaving on her own terms, to spend more time with her young family, but none of that prepared her for the deluge of well-wishes that greeted the announcement.

“The reaction was totally overwhelming,” she told World Rugby.

“From the rugby community, the amount of people that messaged me was just totally overwhelming and I was pretty amazed by it all.”

My Story: @katymc10 🌹

On the day she ends a 13-year international career with the #RedRoses, Katy Daley-Mclean reflects on her rugby journey 🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/5EBVY6j1ca

— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) December 18, 2020

'I don’t want to be that player'

Legend is a word that gets thrown around, but the cap certainly fits Daley-Mclean, who leaves the test arena as England’s third-most capped player having represented her country 116 times.

Her test career spanned more than 13 years and encompassed three Rugby World Cup finals, the second of which ended in glory as she captained England to the title at France 2014.

It must have been tempting to hold on for a fourth Rugby World Cup, and another tour of New Zealand. But the lure of spending precious time with her daughter, Addie, proved decisive.

“When I sat down and looked at the calendar about how much I'd be away, that was a huge factor for me,” Daley-Mclean said. 

“But, also just how my training nature has changed as well. I think it made me have a long, hard look at myself and what I want to do. 

“I've always been extremely competitive and as soon as that edge wasn't there anymore and I didn't really want to be getting up and doing running sessions [that was it], especially as in a team sport you're accountable to your team-mates. 

“For me, that made the decision really easy because I was like, 'I can't continue'. I don't want to be that player, I don't want to be that athlete. 

“So, yes, it was probably a hard decision to action. But, actually the decision itself, once I kind of identified my reasons and how I was feeling towards it, it was quite easy.”

Less than a fortnight before her international retirement was confirmed Daley-Mclean was selected at fly-half in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Team of the Decade, in association with Mastercard.

It may come as a surprise to those who watched her steer England to eight Women’s Six Nations Grand Slams that the playmaker only truly felt comfortable in the white number 10 shirt once she had turned 30. By which time she was already a Rugby World Cup winner.

“By the time I was probably about 30, I was really comfortable in what the roles and responsibilities of a 10 are,” Daley-Mclean explained.

“[Prior to that] I played each moment more so. As a 10, actually, it's about the whole picture. It's almost about the feel of the game and almost like the story of what's going on. 

“Because rugby's a pretty simple game. It's about momentum and go forward, and if you have those, it's generally a much easier game to play. 

“And, I think it was later on in my career when I started to see the impact of what you were doing as a 10 and the differences. And… the game almost felt that it slowed down a little bit. 

“It's kind of like watching it in slow motion. You could almost see what was going to happen next, potentially, like that game of chess.”

England journey

By her own admission, Daley-Mclean enjoyed a “perfect start” to her international career, during England’s 60-0 defeat of Scotland on the opening weekend of the Women’s Six Nations 2007 in St Albans. 

Emerging as a second-half replacement alongside fellow future captain, Sarah Hunter, the fly-half settled any nerves she might have felt with a late touchline conversion.

“My mum, dad and little sister were in the crowd. I think the biggest sense was of relief just to get on,” Daley-Mclean said. “Geoff Richards was head coach at the time and he certainly didn't give caps out for no reason.”

Daley-Mclean’s first real setback in an England shirt came at RWC 2010, when the hosts were edged out by New Zealand in the final at Twickenham Stoop, losing a fiercely contested match 13-10.

“In the end, to be so close to winning something, it was really, really hard to take,” she said. “But obviously, it makes you come back better and stronger and you learn a lot of lessons.”

That experience, however difficult at the time, proved invaluable to the Red Roses four years later when Daley-Mclean led a rejuvenated England team back to the summit of women’s rugby.

“That group had been on such a journey post-2010,” she said. 

“But also we’d been to New Zealand in 2013 and been pumped 3-0, we'd then lost that game [against France] in the Six Nations. Just to finally put that World Cup loss to bed, I think I spoke at the time in 2014 that for me that win wasn't just about us, it was about everybody before us. 

“And, that was the case. We tried so many times previously, I think three times before, to win a World Cup and had been beaten. So actually, for me, it was about our England family, about all the Red Roses. 

“And, yeah, by far my proudest moment lifting that trophy with that group of staff and players — it was immense.”

Embarking on a new challenge

Looking to the future, Daley-Mclean feels motivated by the opportunity she has at Sale Sharks, to develop as a coach and help build a player base in England’s north-west.

She is also looking forward to watching the Red Roses develop as a fan, and is confident the number 10 shirt is in good hands with Zoe Harrison and Helena Rowland chief among those vying for possession of it.

So, could Daley-Mclean one day return to international rugby as a coach? “Simon Middleton watch out!” she joked.

“I try not to but sometimes I get excited. I’m like, ‘Right, what could I do with this?’ But, like I touched on, I literally have so much to learn and I'm really excited about it. 

“For me it's great, I love challenges and this is a new challenge to get my teeth into and to really learn about the culture of it as well, and about how you drive performance teams from the other side. 

“I've always been on the playing side, so actually to learn all the other bits will be great.”

READ MORE: Angela del Pan: Retention key to growth of women’s rugby in Spain >>

Rugby World Cup 2021 - Logo

Teams

Video

News

Volunteer

Tickets

  • Rugby World Cup Limited © 2007 - 2021. All Rights Reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Cookies Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Rugby World Cup
  • World Rugby Media Zone

Managing Cookies on the Rugby World Cup 2021 website

We use cookies to help make our sites function properly. We would also like to use cookies to continually improve our sites, offer you a better experience and deliver personalised content to you. Our use of cookies is described further in our Cookies Policy.

You can enable all optional cookies by clicking “Accept All Cookies”. You can also choose to adjust your cookie settings and select to have only necessary cookies and the cookies you wish to be deployed to be used.

Using this tool will set a cookie on your device to remember your preferences.

Necessary Cookies

Necessary cookies enable basic functionality on our sites such as page navigation, access to secure areas, authenticating logins, and the delivery of other core functions. This category of cookies cannot be disabled on our sites. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of these sites will not then work.

Cookie Consent: Analytics

We would like to use Analytics cookies provided by Google to help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited these sites and will not be able to monitor their performance.

Cookie Consent: Advertising

We would also like to use advertising cookies, which collect information, and combine it with previously collected information, to select and deliver advertisements for you, and to measure the delivery and effectiveness of such advertisements. This includes using previously collected information about your interests to select ads, processing data about what advertisements were shown, how often they were shown, when and where they were shown, and whether you took any action related to the advertisement, including for example clicking an ad. These cookies may be on-site cookies or third party cookies.