Heather Fisher fired up: England back row ready for tough Black Ferns series

Heather Fisher's remarkable comeback steps up a level on Friday when England's women begin a three-match series against reigning World Champions New Zealand, which climaxes at Twickenham on December 1 - a match you can see live on Sky Sports.

skysports.com: Did you set yourself any goals for the match? Heather: I wanted to regain some confidence because I lost a lot when I got injured. I didn't feel much pain in my back when it was broken, so when I started playing again there was this doubt in the back of my mind. I'd be thinking 'I've still got no pain, is everything ok?' I wanted to find my feet and make sure that when I hit someone, I put everything I had into the tackle. It took me until the second half to go in fully because my head wasn't quite there at first. You always go out there to have a great match and I never want to settle for anything less, so I wanted to set myself a standard that I could take into the series against New Zealand and then up my level. skysports.com: Watching you play it's hard to imagine that you lack confidence... Heather: I had to deal with a lot of self-confidence issues in my life; I don't know all the answers by any means and sometimes you just have to rely on pure grit and determination to get you to where you want to be. So if there's a hurdle in front of me, it brings out this passion inside me and all I can do is work as hard as I can to get to my destination. It's as simple as that in my head. skysports.com: How do you convey that message as a Living for Sport mentor? Heather: No matter how many hurdles you have in front of you, you can get over them if you believe in yourself. It may take a while but if you've got no choice but to overcome them, then that's what you have to do. Belief doesn't just come from you but from the team around you and the people that you're working with; with the right network, whether that's family, friends, team-mates or colleagues, you'll get there. I've had to overcome a massive barrier after my injury because I thought I was invincible only to find out that I wasn't. When I tell kids this they always laugh at me because who is invincible? But when I step out onto the field I still believe, even today, that I am. You have to have that mind-set, otherwise I don't believe you can put your heart and soul into it. skysports.com: How much did the squad use the memory of defeat to New Zealand in the 2010 World Cup final for motivation ahead of last year's 2-0 series victory? Heather: There was a time when England used to look at New Zealand and think 'what are they doing, that we're not doing?' Now I think we look at ourselves and simply think 'what are we doing to make ourselves better? The whole approach has changed, individually and collectively. Losing the World Cup final by three points was an experience that we could take into the next game and improve from it, which we did last year despite having a number of inexperienced players come through the system. A year on and those players have not only given us strength in depth but made everyone in the squad realise that there is pressure on their place. skysports.com: How tough will this series be? Heather: New Zealand are going to be strong opponents even though three of their key players have gone over for the Dubai sevens. Their forwards are strong and physical and bearing in mind that they lost two out of three games to us last year, they are not going to sit back and take it. They are naturally gifted rugby players and it's going to be a hard contest but hopefully we will do well and gain invaluable experience ready for the World Cup in 2015. People don't often get the chance to watch us play but as soon as they do they tend to say 'wow'; I know people have watched us for five minutes and ended up fans for life. We know what we can do - I believe we are a world class, highly-skilled side. We just have to prove that we can perform consistently at that level. You can watch the third and final Test between England Women and New Zealand Black Ferns on at 5pm on Saturday December 1 on Sky Sports 1 HD. To find out more about Heather and her work visit the Heather Fisher Academy website or view our Athlete Mentor page. Make sure you stay up-to-date with Sky Sports Living for Sport @SkySportsLFS or SkySportsOli