Katy suffers World Cup heartache
KATY McLean admits to being devastated by England's World Cup heartache.
The South Shields-born star was part of the England squad that lost the final 13-10 against New Zealand at the Twickenham Stoop yesterday.
And the fly-half was honest enough to admit that it may take some time for the scars to heal, after coming so close to claiming the World Cup crown.
She said; "All of the girls are really devastated. It is a bitter blow after so much hard work to get to the final and then to just miss out.
"We have started to come to terms with it yet, but I think waking up this morning, it was just starting to sink in and starting to feel real.
"We know we will have to pick ourselves up from this disappointment, but it won't be easy.
"It's going to take us all a little time to come to terms with losing in the final."
England found themselves trailing to the Kiwis after a nervy start, but hit back with a penalty from Katy, who also missed a penalty and added a conversion, as the host nation forced their way back into contention at 10-10.
However, another New Zealand penalty saw the Black Ferns take the crown, and Katy believes a lack of ball proved costly for her side.
She added: "We didn't do well enough with the break-down ball, and that hurt us.
"We probably wait a while until it isn't as painful and then we will go over the video of the game and go through what went wrong in detail, but the break-down ball was one of the big reasons we didn't win the game."
Despite having played a key role in England's fightback, Katy insists she takes no comfort from how things went for her personally.
"It's not about me, or any other player, it's about the team," she said.
"We win as a team, and we lose as a team.
"When you suffer a defeat like this it is about how you did as a team – not as an individual – and unfortunately on this occasion we didn't do well enough."
Katy will now take a well-earned break from the sport before returning to action next month, by which time she knows the team will have to be focused on the future rather than on what might have been.
"Once we come back, we are going to be building up to the Six Nations, which starts after Christmas. By then we need to be focused on the job at hand and have put the bitter disappointment behind us.
"We know that won't be easy, but it's what we have to do, and I'm sure we will all come back with a point to prove."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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