Women's Rugby World Cup 2010
Venue: Surrey Sports Park, Guildford (group stages and play-off matches) and Twickenham Stoop (semis and final) Dates: Fri 20 August - Sun 5 September
Coverage: Watch main matches live on Sky Sports, Highlights of knock-out stages on BBC Sport (UK users only)

Croker was crowned English weightlifting champion earlier this year

By Aimee Lewis

At the beginning of June, England forward Emma Croker married her fiancé, RAF rugby coach James Croker, on a glorious Saturday afternoon.

Two days later, the 27-year-old newly-wed made the familiar 7am trip to the gym before heading to Hillingdon in Middlesex to teach PE at Swakeleys School for Girls, where she is head of department.

Just like any other Monday, the working day ended at 5pm and Croker embarked on the short journey back to Brunel University's gym for another session of sweat and toil. Finally, at 10pm, she arrived home to put her feet up and spend time with her new husband.

She followed the same routine for the rest of that week, and the rest of the summer term. Honeymoon? What honeymoon?

"There's been no honeymoon yet," the Richmond hooker told BBC Sport. "You can honeymoon anytime but you only get to go to the World Cup once every four years."

Croker has seen her husband for a total of 15 days since their wedding day.

"He's fine," she says. "We've got the rest of our lives together but there's only one World Cup. We're in contact and he's come to the friendlies we played to see me."

The Olympics would be a fantastic opportunity when it's in London but obviously, at the moment, I'm concentrating on the World Cup Emma Croker

Since the end of the school term, Croker has been concentrating on her 'second job' as an international rugby player, and spent the summer in various training camps with the England squad in Brecon, Loughborough, and Bisham Abbey.

The sacrifice has been geared towards the next fortnight, with England kicking off their World Cup campaign against Ireland on Friday at Surrey Sports Park in Guildford.

New Zealand, who have won the last three tournaments, start as favourites but England, ranked second in the world, are expected to reach the final on 5 September and have done everything in their power to ensure they can succeed on home soil.

A fifth straight Six Nations title in March, two friendly victories over Wales, a three-day Army training camp in Brecon, South Wales, and sessions billed as 'toughen-up Tuesdays' and 'front-up Fridays' have all given the women supreme confidence.

"Before heading into our camps we had a six-week block of intense fitness and weights so our core fitness was good and that's allowed us to concentrate on skills," says Croker, who started playing rugby as a 19-year-old student and gradually worked her way through the international set-up.

"It's really good for the squad to know that when it comes to the last 20 minutes of the game we've got it in us mentally and physically to push ourselves.

"Having all this time together has meant we've become really close and everyone's bonded so I think our relationship on the park will show that."

The World Cup could be Croker's swansong in an England shirt. The 5ft 4in Chelmsford-born forward has her eye on another remarkable achievement - winning weightlifting gold for Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.

Croker took up what she describes as her second sport last summer while she was recovering from a rugby injury and after just a few months of practising the clean-and-jerk and snatch, she became English champion in February.

With a personal best of 170kg combined (75kg in the snatch and 95kg in the clean-and-jerk) Croker, under the guidance of Olympian Mike Pearman, believes London 2012 is a realistic aim.

"I was injured last season and unable to go on tour last summer so I was just training hard in the gym, doing a bit of rehab and one of the ex-England weightlifting coaches saw me and asked if if I'd like to start trying some weightlifting," explains Croker, a promising gymnast as a child.

"I think to lift at the Olympics I'd have to lift 200kg combined and next year I'll be able to focus on it completely, whereas this year it's my second sport.

"The World Cup has been my focus for the last four years so I'll think about weightlifting when I get to the other side.

"We do weights within rugby, it's a major part of our game. Rugby is a high impact sport so your body needs to be strong to do that. It's not detrimental to my rugby.

I think people are much more appreciative now of women playing in male-dominated sports Emma Croker

"I've only been doing weightlifting for nine months and it's been quite successful this year. The Olympics would be a fantastic opportunity when it's in London but obviously, at the moment, I'm concentrating on the World Cup."

Croker will not be the only multi-talented athlete at the tournament.

Canada wing Heather Moyse won Olympic gold in the bobsleigh in Vancouver, while Wales full-back Non Evans has won two Commonwealth Games silver medals in judo and will participate in the forthcoming games in Delhi as a wrestler.

New Zealand's captain Melissa Ruscoe has also led her country at football.

It all adds up to a heightened respect for women's rugby, a process the World Cup should accelerate.

"I think people are much more appreciative now of women playing in male-dominated sports, especially when you say you do it at international level," she says.

"People are very respectful and interested in that. I think times have changed when people thought it was just a male-dominated sport and are now interested in what the women can do."

For Croker, winning the World Cup could be the start of a unique journey, and make that delayed honeymoon all the sweeter.

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