Royal opportunity for Ferns hopefuls

Eketahuna's Rebecca Mahoney is taking nothing for granted in her bid to make the Black Ferns women's rugby team to contest the 2010 World Women's Rugby Cup tournament which gets underway in England on August 20.
As the incumbent first-five and one of the better performers for the Black Ferns in their one-win, one-loss test series with England last year, Mahoney would be a ''must'' selection in many people's books. But the 26-year-old has been around long enough to know you should never try and second-guess the selectors of any side, let alone a national team.
''It will all come down to form. If I'm playing well enough everything will be OK, if not, then I guess I don't deserve to be there,'' is Mahoney's typically frank assessment of her chances. ''Reputation probably won't mean anything, and it shouldn't either. Form is what counts.''
Mahoney and young Eketahuna midfield back Shakira Baker have already attended one World Cup training camp and will undergo fitness tests in Wellington on Monday. They will be joined by a third Eketahuna player, loose forward Emma Aldworth, in a Hurricanes side which will play in a four-team competition at Ngaruawahia over Queen's Birthday weekend. Utility forward Perri Tatana was also selected for that team, but her availability is in serious doubt through injury.
The Hurricanes will square up to a South Island team containing mostly Canterbury NPC players on the Saturday, the same day in which the Blues and Chiefs will do battle. The two winners will play each other on the Monday, as will be the two losers.
Mahoney admits to being unsure of how the Hurricanes will fare, for they have been seriously depleted by injury and prior commitments. With the number of past or present Black Ferns in other teams running into double figures, they are already on the back foot.
''It's going to be tough, but then again that's not always a bad thing,'' Mahoney said. ''We won't mind being the underdogs, not at all.''
For Baker, Aldworth and maybe Tatana, the Queen's Birthday tourney will provide a royal opportunity for them to show they have the skills to perform well at the highest levels. ''They are all very good players, good enough to go all the way'' Mahoney said of her Eketahuna teammates.
''This is their big chance to push their case, they've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. They'll do well, I'm sure of that.''
The Black Ferns will be defending a marvellous World Cup record in England. They are aiming to win their fourth consecutive crown.
The build-up for the Black Ferns has, however, been anything but ideal.
First there was the cancellation of the women's NPC because of the challenging financial landscape and a proposed series with Canada also fell through.
Even so, the Black Ferns are still everybody's favourite to win their fifth Cup although the hosts England, in particular, will pose a formidable threat, considering their morale-boosting win against the champions last year. France, Canada and the United States are also serious contenders.
It's not as if the Black Ferns have drawn an easy pool either. They will face South Africa, Australia and Wales in pool A, with all group matches being played at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford. In pool B are England, Ireland, Kazakhstan and the United States and, in pool C, France Sweden, Canada and Scotland.
Semifinals, the third place playoff and the final will all be played at Twickenham Stoop, the home of the Harlequins club in the western suburbs of London.
Full match schedule for the 2010 World Women's Rugby World Cup:
August 20: Canada v Scotland, Wales v Australia, USA v Kazakhstan, New Zealand v South Africa, France v Sweden, England v Ireland.
August 24: Wales v South Africa, France v Scotland, Canada v Sweden, New Zealand v Australia, USA v Ireland, England v Kazakhstan.
August 28: Scotland v Sweden, New Zealand v Wales, France v Canada, Australia v South Africa, Ireland v Kazakhstan, England v USA.
September 1.-Ranking games for position 9 to 12 and 5 to 8, semi-finals for the top two teams in each pool.
September 5: Third place playoff and grand final. 0.0