'I put my head down, do the work - people can follow it'

A developing force for the Red Roses, Morwenna Talling has grown in stature since making her debut as a teenager - and looks set for a key role at WXV

- Harry Latham-Coyle

The former England head coach Simon Middleton has a favourite anecdote from the first time he spotted the promise and potential of Morwenna Talling. It was late in 2019, and Middleton was a keen observer as Loughborough Lightning hosted champions Saracens. Red Roses icons Katy Daley-McLean, Emily Scarratt and Marlie Packer were all on show but it was an unknown lock that caught Middleton’s eye – with a helping hand from a beaming father.

“I think it was my first game for Loughborough,” the now 22year-old Talling recalls as she picks up a story she’s been told by both protagonists plenty of times. “I’d played two games for Lightning’s development team, and then got asked to start against Sarries. It was a big game to start. My dad was watching stood with my mum, and Midds was behind them talking to Richard Blaze, who was the England forwards coach at the time.

“I did something and Midds asked, ‘Who is that?’ My dad, apparently, turned around and said, ‘That’s my daughter.’ Dad was so oblivious to who Midds was – my mum had to tell him. He had no idea it was the England head coach; he was just proud. It’s quite cute, really.”

The father’s pride stuck with Middleton and 12 months later, the tale got a first telling in public as the then England coach awarded a still-teenage Talling her first cap in the delayed Women’s Six Nations encounter with Italy. A budding Red Rose had arrived.

A product of North Yorkshire, Talling followed her older brother to Malton and Norton RFC after brief dalliances with swimming and football. Where her other sporting pursuits failed to capture her full attention, a young Talling was taken by rugby almost immediately. “I thought I’d give it a go, but I didn’t get bored, so I just stuck with it.”