AN England rugby star returned to her former school to deliver a World Cup bonus.

Jodie Cunningham, who will hope to star for England in the 2021 Rugby League World Cup in England, went to Cardinal Newman RC High School in Latchford.

She was handing over one of the first seven CreatedBy RLWC2021 Capital Grants projects to help grow the women’s game in Warrington.

Applications for grants have been open since October, with a total of £10 million available for clubs and community projects to create a positive impact. £9 million will be allocated to large-scale requests costing more than £15,000, with the remaining £1 million being granted to smaller-scale projects. 

The money at Newman, £3,337.37, will go towards the school’s aim to increase female engagement in the region with new equipment and goal posts allowing the school to develop its training, competition and guidance offering to potential new players.

Jon Dutton, chief executive of the Rugby League World Cup 2021, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to announce the first round of funding, which has been made available to help these seven worthy projects.

“Our CreatedBy Capital grants will make an immediate impact more than two years before our tournament begins and we look forward to seeing more projects get underway very soon.”

Ralph Rimmer, Chief Executive of the Rugby Football League, added: “There are so many reasons for the game to be excited about RLWC2021, and the CreatedBy Capital Grants Programme is right up there. These seven awards are the first of many over the next couple of years and give a hint of the range of clubs and other organisations that are going to benefit. Congratulations to the seven successful bidders, and I know they’ll put the investment to good use for the development of Rugby League.”