A woman who is part of the first all-female grounds team set to take to the lawn at the Rugby World Cup final has called her inclusion “unbelievable”.

England’s Red Roses will step out on to the hallowed turf of Twickenham on Saturday hoping to win the Women’s Rugby World Cup for a third time.

And preparations are not just under way off the pitch – with the first ever all-female 15-strong grounds team assembling on Thursday to meet and get the ground ready.

Among the history-makers is Cheryl Hill, who has spent 35 seasons helping to keep Leicester Tigers’ Welford Road pitch match-ready.

Miss Hill, Leicester Tigers’ longest serving member of the grounds team, is one of 15 invited to London for the final by the Grounds Management Association (GMA), the not-for-profit organisation that supports groundspeople across the country.

Miss Hill said it was a career highlight to be chosen for the role.

The 53-year-old said: “I couldn’t believe it when I had the email inviting me down, and I can’t believe I’m going to the biggest stage in rugby.”

She added: “I never thought in my time at Leicester Tigers I would get the opportunity to work at Twickenham.

“There’s 15 ladies altogether, we’ll be looking after the stadium at Twickenham and prepping the pitch ready for the big two games on Saturday.

“I’ve been there many times as a supporter but to be pitchside, will be like ‘whoa, am I really here?’ And the Red Roses will win, they’ll do it.”

The final of the tournament takes place on Saturday following the third-place decider, with the trophy match kicking off at 15:00 BST.

England’s opponents will be Canada, who overturned six-time winners New Zealand to book their place in the final.

Expectations will be high on England as one of just three teams to ever lift the trophy, as will be the viewing figures.

The tournament has reached 9.8 million BBC TV viewers ahead of the final, and driven 8.8 million streams across BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport platforms, a show of the rapidly rising profile of the women’s game.

Miss Hill, from Leicester, is hoping interest will also drive more people into grounds work as a career.

She said: “We had some paperwork and I could not believe only 10% of the industry workforce is female.

“This will highlight women can join and add our bit – we want to show young people, men and women, the grounds industry is an amazing one to come into and there’s a lot of satisfaction.”

Twickenham’s head of grounds, Jim Buttar, added: “Encouraging more women to consider a career in grounds management is so important, and where better to profile the profession than during the Rugby World Cup final?”

Jennifer Carter, GMA director of communications and marketing, said: “Everyone involved is proud to be part of history and looking forward to creating the perfect pitch for the showpiece matches.

“These females are fantastic role models – not only for their peers in the industry but for the next generation of women aspiring to work in sport and grounds.

“As a female myself, having worked in the sports industry for many years, I know first-hand the perceptions and assumptions that are often made in a male-dominated industry – we are here to break down barriers.”