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The Independent
16 minutes ago
- The Independent
How the expressive Ellie Kildunne emerged as the face of England's home World Cup
Growing up in the rural West Yorkshire village of Riddlesden, Ellie Kildunne had a Roald Dahl quote pinned on her wall. 'Lukewarm is no good,' it read, a maxim which Kildunne has carried with her to the top of her sport. These next few weeks in which she will be the postergirl of a home World Cup that England are overwhelming favourites to win could catapult the 25-year-old to superstardom; it is a good job, then, that Kildunne appears totally at ease with the fame for which she has long felt destined. 'She was playing against my daughter in an under-15 game and I'd never seen anything like it,' former England head coach Simon Middleton once recalled of the first time he had seen Kildunne play. 'Her team went 30 points down and she kept them in it, almost on her own, running in tries and kicking goals from the touchline. You don't see that from many 15-year-olds.' Prepare to see plenty more feats of daring and dynamism from a Red Rose in full bloom as the World Cup begins. With a great shock of curls decorating an upright yet deceptively powerful frame, Kildunne is a smooth mover, with trademark serpentine weaves in and out of contact employed to devastating effect since her introduction to international rugby as a teenager. Off the pitch, too, she will be tough to miss; brand deals with Asahi, LG, Canterbury and others befit her status as World Player of the Year. It would be easy to fatigue given the prominence afforded her even within a standard-setting side, but Kildunne's natural charisma and charm has been clear in every media engagement ahead of a tournament of which she may become the face. 'I haven't even scratched my potential yet,' Kildunne told The Independent, ominously, last year, clutching the individual award earned by a superlative 2024 that brought Six Nations and WXV success and a foray back to sevens at the Paris Olympics. If such bold declarations are typical of athletes with her sort of stratospheric ambition, it was nonetheless delivered with the conviction of a certain truth. For there is still a sense that Kildunne is still figuring out the game. Catapulted into an England environment at the age of 18, there was a sense that neither player nor individual quite knew what to do with the raw talent at their disposal. Deployed at full-back on a bit of a hunch – the teenage Kildunne was pretty unfamiliar with the position – flashes of supreme athletic talent were mixed with the growing pains of youth; while Abby Dow and Jess Breach, the other prongs in England's back three triumvirate who made their debut in the same game, soon established their place in the senior side, it took a couple of seasons on the sevens circuit for Kildunne to really make her name. Even by the time of the last World Cup, when her star was fully on the rise, she likely wouldn't have started the final if not for Helena Rowland's injury. "The disappointment and the heartbreak of the last World Cup reignited a flame inside me that I already thought was burning pretty bright," she said ahead of her second tournament. "We've learnt so much from that tournament and built so much in our culture that we're in a completely different space. It's something that you can rewrite and that's something that we're very much focused on. It's not a revenge story, we're just rewriting." But the heartbreak and hard lessons of a relatively tough first major tournament have driven Kildunne to new heights. Growing up, the youngster sported the Liverpool shirts of first sporting heroes like Fernando Torres; now it is her name emblazoned of the backs of a growing legion amidst the swelling army of Red Roses fans. Even among a squad of outstanding ambassadors and engaging personalities, the full-back stands out for her unique connection with her audience. Authentically herself, Kildunne has thrived under John Mitchell in an environment that has encouraged its players to show their personalities on and off the pitch. Her lasso celebration, born at WXV in 2023 with the forming of a 'Cowboys' group within the squad of which Meg Jones is the 'Sheriff', has begun to be imitated on the terraces; when 500 Red Roses cowboy hats were crafted ahead of the Women's Six Nations decider against France, supposedly at the personal request of RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney, the accoutrements sold out almost two hours before kick off. Away from the pitch, Kildunne's expressive edge is clear. A keen photographer and fashion designer, she has worked with clothing brands and O2 to fight the gender awareness gap with a bespoke range of apparel; new boots will be sported during the World Cup featuring a design very much reflecting her character. But elite teams are not picked on popularity or personality alone, and Kildunne has had to work hard to really take command of her starting spot. A tendency to try to do too much herself from earlier in her career, often with success, has been eschewed by a maturing full-back increasingly getting the best out of others as well. Yet Kildunne knows that the intensity of the spotlight upon her will add scrutiny - but the bright lights have never really bothered her. "It will add that target on to my back; I see it as pressure but I don't think pressure is a bad thing," she stressed ahead of the tournament. "I see pressure as a privilege and I definitely think it's a good thing. I use the pressure to challenge myself to exceed people's expectations and to rewrite what people may think I can do and take it to the next level. "I'm feeling strong and confident - the most confident I've ever felt - so I'm ready and raring to go."
BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
'It doesn't get much better in terms of debuts'
BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club panel were all impressed by Tijjani Reijnders' "unbelievable" Premier League debut against Wolves in which he scored one and provided an the departure of Kevin de Bruyne this summer, there has been a lot of talk around how Pep Guardiola fills their 'Kev-shaped hole,' but any existing worries have probably now been put to bed because of Reijnders' potential."He's still got a long way to go before we put him in the same league as De Bruyne," said former top-flight striker Sutton. "They are not like-for-like players, but it is about making an impact and he certainly did that."The reverse pass for Erling Haaland, when he scored his second, was clever and a typical City move."All afternoon he was a threat. It doesn't get much better in terms of debuts so I think City fans have a lot to be excited about with him."Watch the full episode on BBC iPlayer and listen on BBC Sounds
BBC News
16 minutes ago
- BBC News
Are Man Utd improving under Amorim?
With just one win in their past 10 Premier League games, only a fool would say Manchester United have actually been getting better in the past six months under Ruben yet, that is exactly what the stats starting from a low bar, United have been dominating games more and more since the start of March - creating more, and better chances than their opponents overall across the past 12 problem has been in both boxes, with the side scoring seven goals fewer than we would expect historically given the chances they have had, and conceding two more than expected at the other below graph shows United's 28 Premier League games under Amorim so far, with the falling red line showing their changing 10-game non-penalty goal difference (their results) and the climbing yellow one showing their expected goal difference (their dominance in games). In fact, since the start of March only five teams have a better non-penalty expected goal difference than United, but the Red Devils have taken far fewer points than the teams around them. Why is all this 'expected goals' stuff important when - at the end of the day - scoring and conceding actual goals is the only thing that matters?Because, history tells us that football is a simple game - the more a team creates lots of good chances up front while allowing few bad ones at the back, the more success they have in the what a team does in both boxes is obviously very important, not even the most blessed teams - or the most cursed - can 'cheat' their expected goal numbers the belly and the rhythm, the xG is eventually going to get you.
