Latest news with #EllieKildunne
BBC News
04-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
An 'exciting summer' of women's sport lies ahead
Sitting together, laughing and chatting, at The Oval cricket ground in south London, Ellie Kildunne, Niamh Charles and Sarah Glenn could pass for any other 25-year-olds. But they are professional sportswomen who each have huge summers ahead of them in an England Charles is hoping to help the Lionesses defend their Women's Euros title in Switzerland in July, before Kildunne aims to lift the Women's Rugby World Cup in England in September and Glenn targets Cricket World Cup glory in India in the same sport takes centre stage across the BBC this summer and it is an ideal time to bring the trio together, to compare and contrast stories and hear how preparations are going. How big could this year be for your sport? Footballer Niamh Charles: We know that the expectation is going to be there after winning in 2022. It's such an exciting prospect but it's not the exact same as we're a new team. The women's game is growing so much. All the other teams have got so much better as well. It's about who turns up in the lucky we've had lots of good games before to prepare so I think we're not looking to peak right now, but when it comes to the Euros we're going to hopefully have used all those games to be in the best position from that first game and see what Sarah Glenn: We had a really tough winter [England lost 16-0 to Australia in the Women's Ashes]. We've got the India series coming up this summer at home and those games can be quite chaotic good rivals, we get good crowds in and obviously there will be that pressure for us, it's just a great opportunity to show how good we are and to get those wins and, obviously with Lottie [head coach Charlotte Edwards] coming in and Nat Sciver-Brunt as the new captain too, it will be like a breath of fresh air for the a really exciting summer. I trust in the process and let the outcome take care of union player Ellie Kildunne: People expect a lot from us, being a successful we were expected to win the last World Cup and we didn't, so it is a really huge tournament. Everyone shows up for major tournaments so it doesn't matter what the world's saying about how well they expect us to do, we know there's a lot of work to be fact that people are expecting something massive from us is a very cool and special place to be, but we know that there's work to be done still looking to improve, we can still get better and as long as we can keep striving for better and the best, I think we'll be in a very good spot come this World Cup. When did you decide to become a professional athlete? Kildunne: I played quite a lot of sports growing up and I didn't really know what path to go down, because I just loved playing I was playing rugby for Gloucester, I was also sneaking home on the weekends and playing I got asked to play rugby for England and was given a contract. That's when I knew that it could be a profession, and I could be a full-time really getting into that place now where the game is definitely growing. There's more investment going into it and you can see that professionalism, and how that can really accelerate the growth of the sport. Glenn: I played cricket and hockey. Balancing those two was pretty tough and I did think about which path I wanted to take. I played in the Kia Super League in 2017 and it was my first professional tournament. It was really inspiring because we were getting crowds in and there were young kids coming to watch us, and we could chat to them I picked up my first England contract, even though that was amazing, there wasn't too much structure to the domestic game. There was a huge amount of pressure on that England contract because otherwise I'd have to pick up a job alongside more contracts have come into our domestic league. I can represent England and my county, which I'm really proud to do as well. And that for me was the biggest turning point. No matter who I was, I could make cricket my lifestyle. How much do you look to older team-mates who have seen the progression and professionalism of women's sport? Charles: That's always a conversation. And I would say the generation that's coming through now will have it even better than us, and that's what we're striving for in the women's I speak to Lucy Bronze, she talks of working two jobs and doing loads of different things to get to the professional point now.I see her in meetings, advocating for how much the women's game is growing. The revenues have grown, the investments are growing and she's really at the forefront of that because she's had to women's game has grown and I think 20-year-old Lucy wouldn't believe what it would be now. She's been massive in forcing the women's game to keep up with how it's growing, she's pushing it, but also advocating for what we deserve and making sure that we're growing and it's As a team you don't really see an age. I know that there's girls who have been through two World Cups and for some, this will be their first World Cup. So we do a lot of collaboration of what to do a lot of connection points with the vintage Red Roses on how women's rugby started. We remember the heritage of it and one of our sayings and values that we go for is 'do it for the girls'.It's for the younger generation, the girls in our team and the girls that came before us. And I think that makes what we do a little bit more still got that inner passion to do more than what it is. The game is not just winning, it's much bigger than do it for the girls that came before, but also inspire the next generation and take it to a place beyond where it's ever I was in the crowd when England women won the World Cup in 2017 and I literally went as a big super fan, and was cheering the girls on.I thought it was amazing and I had a moment where I thought 'I really want to be a part of this' - because at that point I was training hard, but I didn't know if I could quite make it.I was involved with the England junior academies and then when I started training with the senior girls, I was training with Heather [Knight], and Katherine [Sciver-Brunt], who were a part of that World seen where the game was and where it is now, and how much they've grown the game. They really took me in as a youngster and now I feel like I've started to become one of the senior players, which is really weird to say. It's amazing to see that path grow. All aged 25 and in your prime? Kildunne: It was weird when I got World Player of the Year at 24 [years old]. I kind of didn't want it then because I didn't feel like I was at my best yet, and I still don't.I feel like I'm learning game to game where I can improve and get better. You can always get better. I don't think I'm ever going to be at the peak. I'd hope to never be at the peak of my game because I think you can always The last day before I retire, I should hopefully be at my best. I'd know everything, I'll have been around the block and I think every day I'm learning different margins about myself, like how I can get better in little things. So I like to tell myself as I get older that I'm just hopefully getting better and better. The best is yet to come, I've definitely learned how I go about things. In terms of my actual game, I feel like there's still so much more in me to give.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Joint-winners at Bradford Sports Awards as former City ace "on road to recovery"
THE Active Bradford Sports Awards took place on Thursday night at Valley Parade, and it was understandably impossible to pick between two remarkable female talents. Glusburn cyclist Cat Ferguson, a four-time world junior champion in 2024, and Keighley rugby union ace Ellie Kildunne, the reigning World Player of the Year, were deserving joint-winners of the Sportswoman of the Year award. Saltaire athlete Emile Cairess picked up two awards, both Sportsman of the Year and Sporting Highlight of the Year, for his remarkable fourth-placed finish at the Paris Olympics Marathon. Teenage swimmer Gina Warrior won Amateur Sportswoman of the Year, while wheelchair table tennis whizz Abisoye Jamiyo was named Amateur Sportsman of the Year. Campion were named Team of the Year for their FA Cup run, which included taking Blyth Spartans to a replay, as the Bradford Schools Football Association were named as the Grassroots Club of the Year and the Team Diamond ice skaters were the New Club of the Year. Motorcycling prospect Alfie Barraclough was the Young Disability Sportsman of the Year, trampolining talent Emily Hebden scooping the equivalent female prize. Ice hockey international Darragh Spawforth was the Young Sportsman of the Year, with taekwondo ace Yvie Ling-Hegarty getting the women's award. Coach of the Year went the way of mixed-ability rugby pioneer Mohammed Ahsan Sakandar, with Sue Cater of the Bradford Bulls Foundation named Volunteer of the Year for her tireless work with the club's wheelchair team. Mohammed Ahsan Sakandar proudly poses with his Coach of the Year award on Thursday night. (Image: Thomas Gadd) Bulls also claimed the Diversity and Inclusivity award, for things such as hosting a yearly Iftar event at Odsal. The Community Engagement award poignantly went to Michael 'Muppett' Pascal, a dedicated walker who raised thousands for charity before his death in Shipley last August. Les Cousin won the Environmental Sustainability award, Carlton Bolling were Active School of the Year, Bradford Hindu Council claimed the Active Faith Setting prize, while Active Workplace of the Year went to the University of Bradford Union of Students. Triathlete Alistair Brownlee won the Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Special Recognition prize went to Bradford cricketing stalwart Shiv Krishan. Before presenting that award, the host for the night Tanya Arnold revealed the sad news that the winner of last year's Special Recognition Prize, chief medic at Beanland Taekwondo Ian Rose, has since died of cancer. In the Special Recognition category this year was former Bantams ace Wayne Jacobs, who has done tireless charity work with One in a Million since retiring. He has been ill for a lengthy period, but Active Bradford co-chair James Mason shared the welcome news on stage that the popular full back is 'on the road to recovery'. And with the event being held at Valley Parade just three days before the 40th anniversary of the Fire Disaster, it was fitting that money was raised on the night for the Bradford Burns Unit, with its director, Professor Ajay Mahajan, giving a speech during the ceremony.
Telegraph
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Three non-England players who make my women's Lions Test team
The British and Irish Lions men's squad are heading to Australia this summer, but who would make the team if the women were touring? Here is the match-day 23 I would pick for the first Test if that inaugural tour was this summer rather than to New Zealand in 2027, based on form in the Women's Six Nations. It is dominated by England players because they are the best team in the world but talent from the other home nations also makes the cut. 15. Ellie Kildunne (England) Who else can you put in that shirt? She has developed so much. Her super-strength is her running game and X-factor feet, but her overall game has really come on with her kick returns, her work from kick-offs, her linking of the back three and the centres, her taking of high balls. 14. Abby Dow (England) A great finisher – she scored the most tries in the Six Nations with six – but she is also able to come infield and crash through the middle. She made the most metres and line breaks in the championship too. She complements my other wing really well in that she has that strength and physicality. 13. Meg Jones (England) She is such a creative player and she wants the ball in her hands, which has worked really well for England. She works really well in the collective but it is also about what she can do individually. If you need a game-changing moment, she can give you that. 12. Tatyana Heard (England) I thought about picking Scotland's Lisa Thomson here because of her kicking game, but if you have Meg at 13, Tatyana works really well with her in midfield. She runs hard and straight at the line, but she also has a real finesse to her touches. 11. Amee-Leigh Costigan (Ireland) She is quick. She has really good feet, is a great reader of the game and has a good relationship with whatever half-backs she is playing with. She is such a smart rugby player and that got her the nod over the likes of Jess Breach and Claudia MacDonald. 10. Zoe Harrison (England) She is really starting to develop her run-kick-pass game and is picking the right options. People assume she just has a kicking game but she has always had that passing and running ability, and she is attacking the line a lot more these days. Then if you want to play a territory game, she can kick deep. 9. Natasha Hunt (England) Pauline Bourdon-Sansus was the standout nine in the Six Nations but she is French. I like the young Irish and Scottish nines, Molly Scuffil-McCabe and Leia Brebner-Holden, but in a Lions Test experience is crucial. Mo has 80 caps for England, has played in numerous World Cups and could be a double World Cup winner come September. 1. Hannah Botterman (England) Her scrummaging is always sound and her work off the ball is outstanding. Her two turnovers against France came at key moments when England needed to get the ball back. She plays the role a seven previously would have done and is good with her timing and speed around the breakdown. 2. Lark Atkin-Davies (England) In a heated Lions Test when there is a lot of energy, you want someone who will stick to the process and not get caught up in that. Lark is that player. She hits her line-outs, organises mauls, works hard and is one of those under-the-radar kind of players. 3. Sarah Bern (England) She will send a statement from the off. She is such a rampaging forward she can set the tempo – and intent – of the game. And do it in spades. She carries hard through the middle and the wide channels, and is almost like a fourth back row. 4. Abbie Ward (England) She has been in great form throughout this Six Nations and is another player who gets stuff done. She leads the line-out, she hits a lot of breakdowns, she makes a lot of tackles, she carries if she needs to and she has a hell of a work ethic. 5. Morwenna Talling (England) I would have picked Dorothy Wall because she has been playing brilliantly – I really like her balance and athleticism – but unfortunately she got injured in Ireland's last game. So it is an all-England front five. With Botterman and Bern carrying, you need your second rows to hit things and work hard. Talling does that. 6. Zoe Aldcroft (England) She was outstanding against France and is a lead-from-the-front kind of girl. No one could ever doubt Zoe's desire and work ethic, and she would also be my captain. If you look at the history of men's Lions captains, like Alun Wyn Jones, Martin Johnson and Sam Warburton, she demonstrates the same qualities. 7. Aoife Wafer (Ireland) Ireland's standout player. She has been playing eight but can play seven. She is an explosive ball-carrier and it generally takes two players to bring her down; she is up there for post-contact metres. Erin King would have been in the mix but she picked up an anterior cruciate ligament injury. 8. Evie Gallagher (Scotland) Good players stand out against average sides, the best players stand out when their team is underperforming. Scotland had a tough Six Nations but Gallagher was great. She gets turnovers, carries well and if you put her in a pack going forward, you will see so much more of her. Replacements: Amy Cokayne (England), Gwenllian Pyrs (Wales), Linda Djougang (Ireland), Sarah Bonar (Scotland), Kate Williams (Wales), Keira Bevan (Wales), Helen Nelson (Scotland), Emma Orr (Scotland). The front row is really competitive and these three are still very explosive and can carry hard. Sarah Bonar has plenty of experience and could take over from Abbie Ward in calling line-outs while she does the hard craft. I like Kate Williams because she can play across the back row and has been one of Wales's best players. I thought about Dannah O'Brien as the replacement 10 but I think it is too soon for her. Keira Bevan and Helen Nelson are experienced half-backs and know how to close out games or win them late on. Emma Orr could start at 13 if it was not for Meg Jones because she has gone so well and she has the gas to play on the wing if needed.
Times
24-04-2025
- Sport
- Times
Ellie Kildunne to miss England's grand-slam decider against France
Ellie Kildunne, 2024's world player of the year, will miss England's grand-slam decider against France at Twickenham on Saturday. The 25-year-old is the only absentee from a full-bore Red Roses squad, giving an opportunity at full back to Emma Sing. Both sides are unbeaten in the Women's Six Nations but the home team are clear favourites, having not lost in this tournament since 2018. They are on a 24-match unbeaten streak and have won 54 of their past 55 Tests in all competitions. This year, England's smallest margin of victory (33 points) is greater than France's largest (30), but they are still seeking 80-minute domination. 'It's something we've had a chat about in the week,' John Mitchell, the head coach, said. 'We know it's there.
Telegraph
21-04-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Back-three depth has become England's super strength
Of all the areas where England have stepped up a level in the John Mitchell era, their back-three fluidity is perhaps the most obvious. If the Red Roses were once inhibited by their dependency on the set-piece, Mitchell's reign has brought free-flowing attacking flair – and at the heart of it have been Ellie Kildunne, Abby Dow and Jess Breach. The trio were responsible for 32 of the 75 tries the Red Roses scored in 2024. It is a frightening, mind-boggling statistic – one that comfortably puts the trio among the most potent back threes in rugby, men's or women's. There are several ingredients which make this combination – the so-called 'holy trinity' – so devastating. From Kildunne's evasiveness in contact, lengthening kicking ability and deceptive footwork, to Dow's robustness on the edges and Breach's eye to cut a great line and fine offloading game, the three-pronged attack have had an almost telepathic understanding in recent years. Against New Zealand last autumn during WXV, they stunned the Black Ferns with their unpredictable, interconnected running game, scoring seven tries between them. The Jess Breach > Ellie Kildunne connection is unreal 🤩 #WXV #WXV1 | #NZLvENG — WXV (@WXVRugby) October 6, 2024 Data from Opta shows that since the 2020 Women's Six Nations, the Red Roses back three perform better in every metric when Kildunne, Dow and Breach start together compared to other combinations. Their try yield is nearly one-and-a-half times greater, they secure double the number of turnovers, make more tackles and more line breaks. The trio have also kicked close to three times as much as other starting Red Roses back-three units and it is this characteristic that sets the Kildunne-Dow-Breach combination apart from others. To put their superiority into context, even those such as Millie David, the young Bristol Bears winger who finished as the top try-scorer in Premiership Women's Rugby last season, was awed by the way the Red Roses trio operate on the numerous times she has been in camp with the seniors. 'They play very flat to the line,' David told Telegraph Sport earlier this month. 'There's lots of short passes, lots of layers. It was definitely a task to try and switch the way I automatically play if I was at Bears to how they want to do things. It makes you think a little bit differently.' Which is probably why those like Mia Venner and Emma Sing, the Gloucester-Hatpury winger and full-back respectively, have barely had a look-in. Both are yet to feature since England's opening-round win over Italy, when Sing stayed on the pitch and Kildunne replaced Venner on the wing late on. If slick passing was the main focus during last year's Six Nations campaign, this year has been about embracing positional versatility as England build towards a home World Cup they know they must win. Back-three variation has therefore been a prominent theme. England have fielded three different back-three combinations across four rounds, with Kildunne, Dow and Breach starting two of those four matches together – against Wales and Ireland. On paper, they appear a straightforward choice to play France in the Grand Slam decider on Saturday, so where does this leave those fresher-faced candidates who are vying to usurp this imperious trio? Out of Venner, Sing and Claudia MacDonald, the latter appears the closest in this aim. Venner impressed in England's win over Italy but Dow would be a much more streetwise choice ahead of France, given her big-match experience and exceptional skill-set. With four tries and counting this championship, Kildunne speaks for herself. MacDonald, though, staked a claim for Breach's coveted spot in the Red Roses' 59-7 hammering of Scotland at Welford Road last weekend with a brace of well-taken tries. MacDonald's background as a scrum-half has undoubtedly helped her all-round game. She has been a powerful outlet down her wing but also a spark in broken-field play. Against Scotland, she cut inside off her flank for her first score after she was fed by Holly Aitchison before demonstrating fine edge work for her second. 📹 Claudia MacDonald appreciation post 🤩 #GuinnessW6N @RedRosesRugby — Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 20, 2025 This might appear harsh on Breach, who has worked considerably hard since the 2022 World Cup after struggling to break into the starting side towards the end of the Simon Middleton era. Of all her attributes, her defensive game has improved the most and she is an exquisite kick-chase runner. But MacDonald, who won a turnover against Scotland and finished with six line breaks, appears to be demonstrating a more intrepid game. She arduously scurries in-field looking for the work. Dow scored the pick of England's tries against Scotland with a magnificent solo effort in the 74th minute, which showcased England's back line in full flight. Off a scrum, England recycled quickly with Emily Scarratt running a key dummy line, before Kildunne threw a link pass out to Dow. 😍 Just Wow from Abby Dow 💥 #GuinnessW6N @RedRosesRugby — Guinness Women's Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) April 19, 2025 In a show of their relentless determination, Kildunne and MacDonald both kept on the Ealing Trailfinders winger's shoulder as she showcased a flurry of ridiculous fends before falling over the whitewash. Kildunne's place, too, looks all but secured given Sing is still a raw diamond who has not featured since that first-round win. Mitchell has insisted he will pick the best side that is tactically suited for France at Allianz Stadium, rather than go on players' form. 'It's a good headache to have,' mused the Red Roses head coach, when asked about how he would decide. It is fascinating conundrum given the scorelines his side have been wracking up and the depth his side boasts in practically every position.
