Playing at home was a tremendous boost. For 80 percent of our team, the Champions Challenge was their first high-profile tournament, and to play it in front of your home crowd is a real thrill. It was made more special by the way that people got in and supported their National Team. I know it really lifted the whole group throughout the tournament.

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The team has made a lot of progress since coming together in New Zealand (in a 2005 test series). It's now a matter of building on those improvements so we can consistently beat the nations that we come up against and enable us to qualify for the World Cup.

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