Women's world cup 'more than we could have asked'

Katy Smith said the world cup investment meant she would not have to keep cancelling games and training for Bugbrooke's youth teams

A village rugby club has said investment ahead of the Women's World Cup in its facilities has been "more than we could have asked for".

Bugbrooke Rugby Club, near Northampton, said it has benefitted from thousands of pounds' worth of funding from World Rugby for new pitches, which kept getting waterlogged and causing games and training to be cancelled.

Northampton's Franklin Gardens will host six international games in the competition and teams from across the globe have been training at local clubs, including Bugbrooke on Wednesday.

Katy Smith, chair of Bugbrooke's mini and junior teams, said the investment in pitches "to make it rugby world cup ready... means it's future-proofed us".

Spain's women's rugby squad have been meeting young fans at Bugbrooke rugby club, near Northampton

Bugbrooke has been one of several local clubs to have received funding.

"We have had really terrible times with our pitches, they get waterlogged very quickly," said Ms Smith.

"I've had to cancel countless games sessions because the pitches haven't been accessible.

"We've got the pitches now, that are looking incredible, and we can keep running we can keep those games going in the future, which is more than we could have ever asked for. It's fantastic."

The club has spent the money on drainage works, which included using more than 300 tonnes of sand across three pitches, a new irrigation system, and investment in fertilisers and over-seeding.

Spain's Alba Capell has been training for the Women's Rugby World Cup at Bugbrooke

The Spanish women's team have been training at the club. Ms Smith said the training session had attracted spectators from the surrounding villages and had been "amazing" for its recently established girls' teams to watch.

Spanish player Alba Capell said she had been captivated by the "warmth" of the crowd while training and hoped it would be a memorable occasion for those with ambitions of following her on to the world cup stage one day.

"I just hope all those young girls dream big because I had to dream big all my life because I was just a little girl from Spain - not too tall, not too fast - but I dream big," said Capell.

"I knew I had to work hard, but it paid off and now I'm here, I'm on a world cup, the biggest world cup so far."

Young rugby player Anisha said it had been inspiring to watch Spain's team at Bugbrooke

Youth rugby player Anisha said she felt the momentum and interest in the women's game was building and it had been "crazy" to see an international team train locally.

She added that watching the session "inspires me because they work so well together".

"I feel if my team can train as hard as them, then we can be like that."

In a proud moment for the county, Franklin's Gardens has already hosted two games at the weekend in the competition, which runs in England until 27 September.

Other fixtures at the stadium include:

• Saturday 30 August: England v Samoa

• Sunday 31 August: Ireland v Spain

• Sunday 7 September: Italy v Brazil (14:00 BST) and France v South Africa (16:45)

Events, including public screenings, and an exhibition at Northampton Museum about the history of the women's game, are also being held to mark the occasion.