| Jo Yapp | The 2006 Six Nations Grand Slam winners, who are ranked second for the tournament behind the reigning World champions the Black Ferns, will be led by Worcester scrum-half Jo Yapp. Jo, whose family farm in Clee Hill, is a P.E. teacher at Bewdley High School. This is her 3rd World Cup after representing England in Holland in 1998 and Spain in 2002. England prepared for the tournament with a three week programme in England and five days training in Calgary. Throughout the tournament BBC Hereford and Worcester will be running an exclusive diary from Jo in Canada. |
Jo Yapp diary: Monday 4 September It's day six of the tournament (part seven of my online diary), and we are already two rounds in with our 74-8 win over South Africa today. For me, it was a bit of a strange experience as I was on the bench and I was desperately trying to stay relaxed. But it was a good game and I was glad to get on fully in the second-half and even score a try. Our performance certainly got better and better as the match went on, despite a slow start, and Sue Day did a great job as captain. Admittedly we made a bit of a slow start again, maybe because of the heat, or maybe because we were trying too hard. There were points on the board early on, but South Africa did put us under a lot of pressure. That made us go back to basics and playing rugby in their half, and the game started to get better and better for us. This win sets us up well for the game against France. We have had a tough match against the USA, and South Africa weren't easy either, but we are building upon every game and when the French game comes around we will be confident, but we also know that it's going to be one hell of a match on our hands. MATCH REPORT FROM BBC HEREFORD & WORCESTER: England 74 South Africa 8
 | | Sue Day scores - photo by Paul Seiser |
England racked up an impressive 12 tries to see off South Africa and pick up a bonus point victory in round two of the IRB Rugby World Cup at Ellerslie Park in Edmonton, Canada on Monday. Captain Sue Day led by example with four tries, while Worcester's prolific try scorer Nicky Crawford grabbed a brace of tries. There were also touch downs for Shelley Rae, Rochelle Clark, Rachel Burford, Selena Rudge, Worcester scrum half and England captain Jo Yapp and Charlotte Barras. Rae also enjoyed another impressive afternoon with the boot, slotting home seven conversions to bring her personal haul to 19 points. England now face old rivals France, who they beat 28-0 in this year's Six Nations, in a crucial clash on Friday at St. Albert's Park on Friday September 8, kick-off 1200 BST (see below). ENGLAND'S WORLD CUP SCHEDULE: September 8 England v France at St. Albert RFC, Edmonton. KO 5pm local time. September 12 - Semi-finals: 1st v 4th (M19), St. Albert. KO 5pm local time. 2nd v 3rd (M20), Ellerslie Rugby Park. KO 5pm local time. 5th v 8th (M21), St. Albert. KO 2.30pm local time. 6th v 7th (M22), Ellerslie Rugby Park. KO 2.30pm local time. 9th v 12th (M23), St. Albert. KO 12pm local time. 10th v 11th (M24), Ellerslie Rugby Park. KO 12pm. September 16 - Consolation Finals (All Ellerslie Rugby Park): Loser M21 v Loser M22. KO 5pm. Winner M23 v Winner M24. KO 2.30pm. Loser M23 v Loser M24. KO 12pm. September 17 - Finals (All at the Commonwealth Stadium) Winner M21 v Winner M 22. KO 12pm. Loser M19 v Loser M20. KO 2.30pm. Winner M19 v Winner M20. KO 5pm. | 
