Hannah Botterman hopes England can emulate Lionesses effect at Rugby World Cup

South Wales Guardian

3 days ago

The Red Roses begin their World Cup campaign on Friday with a clash against the United States at the Stadium of Light.
This year's competition follows the 2017 Women's Cricket World Cup and 2022 Women's European Championships, where England were crowned victors on home soil.
The Lionesses have since enjoyed further success after defending their Euros title in Switzerland earlier this summer and Botterman is hoping a home World Cup can have a similar effect for women's rugby.
The 26-year-old prop said: 'You look at what they did in the Euros, more recently, but their home European win as well and what that did for women's sport – not just women's football – but women's sport in general has just boomed since then.
'We obviously want to have a similar effect. If we can have an effect on women's sport in general, but for women's rugby – obviously being a less participated-in female sport – it would be unbelievable to see a boom in participation in that area.
'Just people witnessing the sport, enjoying it and wanting to play it.
'Home World Cup, moving it around the country so it's accessible to everyone is really important.
'Hopefully we can get to the final and reproduce what the football girls did.'
England are one of the favourites going into the 2025 competition and are the top-ranked team in the world.
They have already enjoyed success this year, having secured a seventh consecutive Six Nations title with a tight victory over France.
However, the Red Roses' last World Cup triumph came at the 2014 edition and despite reaching both finals of the following two tournaments, they lost to New Zealand both times.
After Friday's clash with the USA, they face Samoa and Australia in their remaining Pool A games before the knockout stages begin and lock Abbie Ward insists England are ready to embrace the pressure of a home tournament.
'I don't know a time when the Red Roses haven't been under pressure or perceived pressure,' she said.
'We've always had that 'you're ranked number one, you've had this many wins in a row, you've won however many Grand Slams'.
'I've also been part of two World Cups where we've gone in as favourites and we haven't won.
'So I think the day the Red Roses don't have that pressure, that will feel weird. We're used to it, I think we enjoy it, we thrive and have our best performances when we are under pressure.
'It's something I think we're used to, we can adapt to and can use in our favour.
'It's a home World Cup, so for us that's an advantage – that support and noise, having our friends and family there, more press there. That's an advantage.
'I think the girls will harness it and you can hopefully see it reflected in our on-pitch performances.'