AUSTRALIA co-captain Samantha Bremner has enthused that there is “such a great sense of pride” ahead of leading her country into the World Cup.

The LNER Community Stadium will host its first ever international fixtures tomorrow when New Zealand take on France (5pm) and Australia take on Cook Islands (7.30pm) in group ‘B’.

Australia will be looking to defend their World Cup title, having won the prestigious competition in 2017.

The World Cup opened today with England, as the hosts, playing in the first game. It was a comfortable win for England, who beat Brazil 72-4 in what was the South American side’s first-ever World Cup match.

All six of the games in Group ‘B’ will be held at the LNER, the home of York City and York RLFC.

It will also be the home of the competition’s semi-finals, which will be played as a double-header on Monday, November 14.

In all, the eight games York are hosting is more than Leeds, Hull, Manchester or Wigan, the other hosting cities in the tournament.

Australia’s national side have been in York for a week ahead of the competition, as they look to seal their third-ever World Cup win.

“To be honest, I hadn’t thought of the prospect of me leading this team with two other teammates,” reflected Bremner.

“I was extremely focused on how I was going to get this jersey. But now that I’m here and I’m able to lead the girls and co-captain them, it’s such a great sense of pride.

“The team that I’m so lucky to captain, they’re such a great bunch of girls. I definitely see myself as just their mate, although I’m a co-captain, I don’t see that I’m any different to them and I can still learn so much from my teammates.

“I think that’s what makes the group really special, I’m so privileged to be a co-captain but I’m still able to learn so much more, even from the youngest girls in the team.”