ENGLAND Women continue their preparations for October’s Rugby League World Cup when they face Wales this evening.

And the national team is set to have two representatives from York City Knights Ladies after stars Grace Field and Kelsey Gentles were named in head coach Craig Richards’ squad.

England have never reached a World Cup final and will be looking to go one step further than their semi-final finish in 2017 when they run out for the home World Cup this autumn.

Before that, the national side have the chance to build some combinations against Wales in a contest that Field and Gentles can not wait to be a part of it.

“We’ve been talking about it for so long and all of our training has been gearing up to this Test match,” Gentles told the York City Knights YouTube channel.

“I think that will be great to get out there on the field and show people what we’ve been doing in training through these months.”

Field added: “We don’t know a lot about them so, for me, it’s about not underestimating their ability as players. I’m hoping that it’s going to be tough physical match, especially down the middle.”

Coronavirus cases have disrupted Field and Gentles’ schedule with the Knights. The pair have not played since the Betfred Challenge Cup final defeat to St Helens last month and will be eager for game time.

Gentles admitted: “It’s frustrating, but we’ve had some really good training sessions, both at York and England so I think, going into this game, we’ll still be firing as much as we would be had we had those matches anyway.”

England’s game against Wales also offers Field and Gentles the chance to further stake their claims for World Cup squad places in the Autumn.

“I think there’s pressure, but that comes from ourselves,” said Gentles.

“We have pressure on ourselves because we know how good we can be and we want to show people how good we are so that there’s a real buzz and excitement for the World Cup.

“We want to be one of the best nations there, if not the best.”

Field concurred: “The pressure comes from us within because we have such high expectations of ourselves in the group.

“Hopefully we can encourage and inspire people to get involved with the Women’s World Cup later this year.”

Elsewhere, York star Savannah Andrade is in Los Angeles representing Jamaica RFU, who are playing in the Gold Rugby 7s tournament this weekend.