England rugby star Ellie Kildunne says girls playing rugby needs to stop being an “anomaly”.
The 26-year-old full-back, whose early try kicked off the Red Rose’s triumphant Rugby World Cup win over Canada, told Sky News sports presenter Jacquie Beltrao that she hopes the success of this England team does more for the sport.
“It’s more than just winning the World Cup. Put the trophy to the side and just look around the stadium. We’ve done it,” she said.
“We’ve done what we wanted to do. We’ve inspired so many people. We’ve got people with their bums on seats and that whole moment is something that I will try to relive over and over again for a long time.”
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Having had a passion for rugby since she was young, Kildunne said she hopes the sport becomes available for all girls to play in school, which historically hasn’t been the case.
She said: “I just want young girls to know that it’s nothing out of the normal to be a rugby player, that there’s role models, that you can do whatever you want to do in life.
“For rugby, I hope more investment comes into the game at Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) level and grassroots level, that more girls pick up a rugby ball, but also that it’s taught in schools.
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“Rugby is more than just throwing a ball around the pitch. The values that it shares with you is something that I don’t think you get in any other team sport.
“So like when the Lionesses won the Euros and then schools started bringing in football for girls. I want the same for rugby as well. It needs to stop being an anomaly that a girl plays rugby.
“We want to professionalise the PWR more so and keep on pushing for that being the best premiership league in the world. And players will get better. Players can actually invest themselves into the game of rugby rather than having to work two jobs.”
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‘I will never see myself as an icon’
A Rugby Football Union (RFU) survey of female rugby players and coaches found last year that the biggest challenges of the sport include the negative perception of female players, unequal opportunities, inappropriate kit and players’ menstrual cycle.
Helping to break down perceptions of female rugby players, Kildunne is one of four international players being made into a Barbie doll.
When asked what her reaction was to the doll, Kildunne said: “I just couldn’t believe it. Icons get Barbies and I would never see myself as an icon. I will never see myself as an icon. I am just a girl that plays rugby.
“I just thought, really me? You want to make one of me? But, you know, I felt very proud, giddy, very excited.
“I didn’t play with Barbies when I was growing up. I think one of the reasons was I was outside playing rugby most of the time. But number two, none of the Barbies really looked like me.
“I saw a Barbie as this really girly girl in a dress, and that’s not saying that you can’t be that when you’re a rugby player. But for those young girls that don’t play with Barbies because they don’t see the resemblance, or they feel like they could never be a Barbie doll, now there’s something that shows that you can.”
Each players’ doll is a one-off, meaning it is not on sale to the public.
‘The bin men have recognised me’
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For Kildunne herself, what does life look like after winning the World Cup?
“The bin men have recognised who I am,” she tells Beltrao, adding that she has also been recognised in random shops, and in the pub.
She said: “If I’m honest, when that whistle went [during the final], I didn’t really know what to do myself. I didn’t even know that the whistle had gone.
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“Then when I realised the whistle had gone, it was almost just pride. I don’t want to say relief because it wasn’t a relief. I never doubted this. I never had doubt in the team.”
The player said she is now going to focus on having a well-deserved holiday before getting back on the pitch with the Harlequins, the rugby union team she has played for since 2021.
