RUTH LAYBOURN wondered if she would ever pull on the England shirt again - tomorrow the York winger will star for her country as the women’s Six Nations gets under way.

The 30-year-old missed the Red Rose’s World Cup triumph last year, having just returned from nine months out with a back injury, but will pick up her sixth cap in an Anglo-Welsh clash in Swansea.

Laybourn’s rise to rugby union stardom has been meteoric. A former athlete, who captained City of York Hockey Club’s ladies first team, she did not try the oval ball game until she was 22.

The agricultural ecologist at the city’s Food and Environment Research Agency was a quick learner and, following spells at York RI and Leodiensian, now plays for Premiership outfit Darlington Mowden Park.

With five tries from her five England caps, including a hat-trick against Spain on her international debut in 2011, Laybourn can’t wait to get back on to a rugby pitch having donned the famous white jersey.

And, having fought back from “disheartening” set-backs, the woman who once represented Yorkshire and the North of England in the long jump and 300 metre hurdles at a number of age groups is hoping to be among the tries in a side set to feature three debutants.

“It was my final year at university in York. I was 22 and decided I wanted to try something different,” said Laybourn of her introduction to rugby. “After my first game, I loved it and continued playing.

“I haven’t got the background that other people have, who have been playing the game since they were eight, nine and ten. When I was younger I did a lot of athletics and my ambition was to represent my country at athletics.

“I had issues with a back injury from the age of 15 to 18 and that’s why I stopped. I never thought I would have a shot to represent England.”

Laybourn could only watch as England ended a run of three straight defeats in World Cup finals with a 21-9 win over Canada last August.

She said: “I was hoping to get back in and push for a position in the World Cup XV but I had a back injury and didn’t play for eight or nine months. I started playing again in September.

“I was really struggling in training. I could potentially have pushed through it but we are not paid professionals and I had my long term future to think about.

York Press:

FAVOURITE SHIRT: Ruth Laybourn breaks through the French line at Twickenham almost 15 months ago

“It was disappointing. If I had been fit I would have felt it more but I was delighted for the players who went out there and won the World Cup in those two weeks and a lot of people contributed over the last ten to 12 years.”

Having now returned to full fitness, though, Laybourn is set to achieve a long-held ambition having been named in the starting XV to face Wales.

Her biggest game to date came when she scored a try, and was player of the match, in a 40-20 victory over the French at Twickenham in November 2013.

She explained: “When I wasn’t playing a lot last year, it was quite disheartening but my objective was to play in the Six Nations. It will be the biggest tournament I’ve played.

“I grew up watching rugby and the Six Nations. It’s bound to be a really good tough test in Wales. I am really excited. Fourteen months ago, I didn’t think I would ever put an England shirt back on. As you get older, you appreciate it more than when you are 22 or 23.

“It makes you work hard and preserve all you can from it.”