VINCENTIA’S Ashleigh Hewson has been named in the Wallaroos squad, which will travel to New Zealand for a three Test, pre-World Cup tour.
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The 38-year-old fullback was named in the Wallaroos 28-person squad, alongside two of Australia's sevens gold medallists Sharni Williams and Shannon Parry, who will play matches against England, New Zealand, and Canada this June.
“It's such a great honour and always a privilege to represent your country,” Hewson said.
“It’s something that I cherish everytime I have the chance to do it - it never gets old that's for sure.
“To be able to sing the national anthem with some of your best friends and in front of your family is a truly special experience.”
Hewson comes into this tour on the back of red-hot form, where her Sydney team recently won the Buildcorp National Women’s XVs Championship for a third year in a row.
“The quality of rugby played at this year's national championship, which we won without a point being scored against us, was phenomenal,” she said.
“It has stepped up another level from previous years and that is a testament to the girls commitment and attitude going into this tour and the World Cup.
“The squad is relatively young and will have several debutantes again but that just shows the depth and growth in women's rugby in this country at the moment.”
Hewson, a former-Vincentia High student, knows this tour is the ideal preparation ahead of August’s 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup in Ireland.
“We have a strong and physical squad and are hoping to be successful in New Zealand,” she said.
“We are playing the three best teams in the world - so it is going to be a difficult task, but everyone has worked really hard, so hopefully we can be successful.
“Looking ahead, this is a great preparation for the World Cup to test yourself against the best teams in the world.”
As Hewson mentioned, New Zealand, England and Canada are the top three ranked teams in women’s rugby at the moment, while Australia sit in sixth.
“We are definitely well aware that we are playing the three best teams in the world and we will be respectful of that,” Hewson said.
“We are looking forward to testing ourselves and see how far we have come from the tour of New Zealand last October.
“Our preparation has been better and coming off the back of nationals and being mid-season is only going to assist us in the task ahead - we are up for the challenge.
“We hope that we can be successful to try and gain some more exposure and media attention leading into the World Cup - this will only benefit women's rugby in Australia as a whole.”
With just under 100 days to the World Cup gets underway, Hewson who attended both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups, is excited to continue preparations for another World Cup.
“For me personally, preparation has been coming along great,” she said.
“I feel really fit at the moment and am really enjoying my rugby.
“We have a full-time strength and conditioning program that has benefited everyone involved - the Australian Rugby Union have been very supportive.
“With this tour of New Zealand and the current training program, it will be the best preparation we have ever had for a World Cup and with the standard of women's rugby increasing around the world - it is only going to improve our chances of success.”
Game one of the tour is against England at Porirua Park, Wellington on June 9, followed by matches against New Zealand and Canada on June 13 and June 17 respectively.