Former Sudbury Rugby Club star Connie Powell scores a try on her Women's World Cup debut for England in New Zealand
The 2am alarm call back in Hadleigh certainly proved worth doing for Brian and Ruth Powell as their daughter Connie played her part in England’s Women’s World Cup campaign getting off to a magical start.
The Red Roses got their quest to reclaim the trophy from hosts New Zealand off to a statement start with an 84-19 demolition of Fiji in Saturday’s Pool C opener at Eden Park in Auckland.
It was the most points and tries scored by an England team at a World Cup as well as extending their record-breaking run of Test wins to 26.
The scoreline had run away from 24-14 at half-time with England cutting loose in the second period with former Sudbury Rugby Club youth player Powell coming off the bench to get their penultimate try.
For the 22-year-old Gloucester-Hartpury hooker it was a third try in just her sixth England cap, having entered the field in the 63rd minute.
And it left her parents back in Suffolk, who are due to fly out ahead of the quarter-finals, brimming with pride.
“It has just been overwhelming and we are obviously super proud of her as she has worked incredibly hard to get to where she has got to and we could not be prouder,” said her mother Ruth.
“I think the try was the icing on the cake for her after winning her first World Cup cap.
“She Facetimed us from the ground and she was tired but absolutely over the moon.
“For her that could not have gone any better, with it being a World Cup so far away from home and being so young. It is just huge for her.
“She sees herself as a role model, saying I am a girly girl but can still play rugby.”
She also said the support locally for the former Hadleigh High School pupil, who played for Sudbury when she was 14 and 15 before a year with Woodbridge as well as training with the boys during the summer at her hometown club, had been fantastic.
“She has had so much support from the whole family as well as hearing from old school friends, teachers and old coaches,” she said.
Sudbury Rugby Club’s recently-appointed new chairman Shaun Smith, remembers seeing her come back to take in a first-team match he was playing in last season.
Of her World Cup debut he said: “We are massively proud at the club, particularly with the ladies’ section being still an upcoming but still very strong part of the club.
“It just paints a pathway both for girls getting in the game and ladies coming into senior rugby for the first time.
“Connie’s success just shows you that stereotype of needing to be from a private school background to make it doesn’t apply.
“Watching her and the England team is a massive boost to any young girl getting into the game.”
Simon Middleton’s side, who are favourites for the tournament, face another fancied team in France, who beat South Africa in their opener, in their second pool game on Saturday (8am BST).
Powell and her team-mates are set to find out if they have been picked for the game in Whangarei on Thursday.
