West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has helped to celebrate the stunning Rugby World Cup win with a trio of local women’s rugby stars. Harriett met Kat Merchant, Ceri Large and Lydia Thompson at an event in Westminster to celebrate the world cup victory over Canada in the final last month. The trio joined other squad members at the event held today (September 3) to promote the recent success by the national women’s rugby team. Seven players from Worcester represented their countries at the 2014 World Cup and two players will be turning professional ahead of competing in the next year’s World Sevens Series with the aim to qualify to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Kat has captained the popular Worcester Warriors Ladies team where she has played for the last ten years and is a former pupil of Prince Henry’s School in Evesham. Harriett said: “Women’s rugby in Worcester is immensely strong and I was so pleased to see our team lift the World Cup in Paris. “It was great to meet some of the squad and help them to celebrate their amazing achievement. "Lots of girls in Worcestershire will have been inspired to become the next generation of stars by this victory. “I look forward to following their success on the field and hope that we will have some Worcester stars winning more glory over the coming years.” Photo: Celebrating World Cup success are (l-r) Ceri Large, Katherine Mechant, Harriett Baldwin MP and Lydia Thompson