Talling ready to put northern rugby on global stage

WXV: New Zealand v England

Venue: Langley Event Centre, Canada Date: Sunday, 6 October Kick-off: 21:00 BST

Coverage: Live on BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website and app

Flanker Morwenna Talling has no doubt who would win a match between the north and south in England camp.

A quiet voice around the squad, and a nature lover in her free time, the Sale Shark is usually happy for others to do the talking, unless it is about the north against the south.

In the north corner joining Talling, there is Tatyana Heard, Maddie Feaunati and Zoe Aldcroft.

The south may contain a higher population, but the 22-year-old is convinced that does not matter.

"There are quite a few of us and we always joke around the camp that we should do a north against south," Talling told BBC Sport.

"I think the north would probably win every time."

York-born Talling, who starts on Sunday against New Zealand in WXV1, may have fellow northerners in camp, but she is the lone wolf when it comes to northern club representation.

The rest of the squad are based out of Loughborough Lightning, Bristol Bears, Gloucester-Hartpury, Exeter Chiefs, Leicester Tigers, Harlequins and Saracens, with Talling opting to move from Loughborough to Manchester last season to help grow women's rugby in the north.

Despite Sale finishing last season bottom of the Premiership Women's Rugby (PWR) after a points deduction for a lack of England-qualified players, Talling signed on until 2025.

"Sale were struggling and I thought it was important that we show rugby from all round the country," Talling, who also studies Geography at Manchester Metropolitan University, added.

"It was to show rugby was still there and we had a few successes last season so it was about showing people we can still compete.

"Women's rugby clubs in the north have grown in the past number of years, but it is frustrating the lack of them.

"It is all the more reason to keep pushing to make it better."

Talling, capped 16 times, made her England debut against Italy in the 2020 Six Nations and made the Red Roses' Rugby World Cup squad in 2022 as a 20-year-old.

Last season's move to Sale, who only won three games in 2023-24 in PWR, was also to help "grow as a leader" by bringing some top-level international experience - which was lacking - to the current squad.

Equally as comfortable at lock, work-rate and physicality is what Talling prides her game on.

Such unglamorous hard work she believes comes from her father, who was a farmer.

"When I am on the pitch I try to be physical," the back rower said.

"I enjoy doing that [dirty] work as I always have the work-rate behind me to keep going and keep making tackles.

"I am more than happy to do that if it helps the team go on to score tries."

In one of the most competitive spots in the squad, a strong performance against the world champions on Sunday could put the Sale forward in a strong position to feature at next year's home World Cup.

"There are a lot of great players in my position and you always want to put your best foot forward," she added.

"As a team the goal is to win the World Cup and the competition pushes you, which is all you can ask for.

"But I've always had the drive to want to be the best at things.

"It is a big game against New Zealand, I am just looking forward to going out there to try and play my best rugby."