England wing Abby Dow is eagerly anticipating this Saturday’s fixture against the Black Ferns, as she expressed how these are the matches the Red Roses ‘dream about’. Whilst the high stakes of a Women’s Rugby World Cup Final are not on the line in this exhibition test, Dow’s adrenaline is pumping with the chance to lay down a marker against the back-to-back world champions.
The stage is set at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, for what could very well be a dress rehearsal for next year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup Final. Dow is buzzing with excitement to run out at the home of English Rugby and bring the fight to New Zealand, with the Red Roses set to hit an emotional peak as they face the Haka tomorrow afternoon. Speaking at an England Women’s press conference ahead of the match, Dow expressed the personal magnitude that comes with facing the Black Ferns at the Allianz.
“Every single player on that pitch plays for games like this. You play at club, you played when you were younger, and every single person on that team has been competitive, competitive enough to want to keep on striving for more. This is more, this is the elite level. These are the games that matter. These are the games that you go to bed dreaming about, and I think when you’re there, you’re like, ‘fine, I’m there and I’m going to be ready’.”
The Black Ferns have certainly arrived in style, as they take on England before continuing their Northern Hemisphere venture. Both the Black Ferns and the Red Roses will jet across the Atlantic to Canada at the end of September for WXV, with New Zealand bringing a star-studded cast of talents with them overseas.
Dow is ready to line-up against the charismatic Ruby Tui upon the wing, in a battle within the war in South West London. Whilst taking on Tui is an impressive feat, Dow expressed when she felt the most starstruck in facing the Black Ferns, as went toe-to-toe with Black Ferns legend Portia Woodman-Wickliffe in a previous Test.
“You train and you always want more. I think when you can have an opportunity to really test yourself in really different environments and big performance and big games. It just makes a really exciting battle, a really good opportunity just to go and play the game and have fun.”
“I did get a potentially creepy smile from Portia once in my life, and I was not sure what to make of that. No, I think they’re normally absolutely lovely after the game. What kind of helps then is we’ve got Shannon (Ikahihifo) in my club team. She grew up with a lot of them, the last time I played them, they were like, ‘hang on a second. You know Shannon? Oh my God!
“It’s one of those ones when you have that small connection, they’re very easy, very friendly, and they’re great people on and off the pitch, and it’ll be a great competition.”
Whilst the Black Ferns bring a fierce fight to their on-field efforts, the squad is by all accounts a very easy going and approachable group once the 80 minutes are up. After the ferocity of the Haka and subsequent physical battle subsides, Dow is excited to catching up with the Black Ferns to chat about their mutual friends in the Premiership, given the rarity of the two sides meeting on the Test match stage.
Whilst there will be plenty of time to talk about club teammates far and wide after the match, Dow turned her attention to her Red Roses back-line and the collaboration with Ellie Kildunne and Jess Breach. Focussing in on the flying fullback, Dow joked about how the partnership would be even better had Kildunne played a pass to Dow against France, that would have been a guaranteed try for the Trailfinder.
“If Ellie passes the ball, that’d be handy! With time and experience connections grow. I think when we all have both team desires and self desires, I think it can be a real, really careful balance. I think as long as we continue to work through it as a team and always put the team first, I think that connection will grow.”
“When you’re in a game, I think your adrenaline is kicking in and your emotions are high. There are things that normally end up making very snappy decisions, the language that you would use would be very much like, ‘this needs to happen’, where I think off the pitch, you can be a bit more like, ‘what’s the thought process? Let’s go through it. We have time here.’ So, with analysis, we can watch it back, and we can, hopefully, as well, going forward, choose the easy decisions.”
Rounding off the press duties for the day, Dow took a brief moment to discuss the unexpected goings on at her Trailfinders club. The Ealing side was suprised to learn of the departure of their head coach Giselle Mather this past week, given the solid camaraderie between the newly banded together squad and the head coach. Dow expressed how Mathers was a key draw for the wing to sign from Harlequins, as she banded together a ‘bunch of misfits’ for the newly formed PWR club.
“I would say it was a very big shock. I think the woman has done absolutely so much, not just in her career, but what she did for the club. She pulled together a bunch of misfits and made us not only a team and a family, but competitive. I wouldn’t be able to credit too many people that I think could do that. I wish them the best.
“I literally just saw her five minutes ago, she was probably like ‘bloody hell, no!’ I think it was really hard, because I think she was always like a massive pull for me (to join Trailfinders), because I could trust in her ability and who she was as a human and what culture she brought. So time will tell with what happens with the club. But I think what she’s created is a platform for a great culture for the club to move forward with.”