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Outside Twickenham train station, a giant image of Ellie Kildunne welcomed fans off the trains from Reading and Waterloo. They arrived in their thousands, wearing red cowgirl hats, singing an octave higher than we are used to in these streets.
There were Kildunne scarves for sale on the walk down Whitton Road, where groups of men arrived wearing wigs styled on England’s full-back. It felt like a movement that was being led by the curly-haired girl from Yorkshire.
All Kildunne needed was her poster-girl moment and it arrived early in the first-half, leaving a golden jet-stream behind her heels as her try put England on track to become World Cup champions.
There were 81,885 here to watch, smashing the previous record for a women’s rugby match by almost 25,000. The ticket touts were out in force. No freebies here – and less of the corporate junkets that often leave a sloppy trail of lager behind them.
‘Let’s hear it if you think we’re dreaming,’ shouted the stadium announcer. ‘This is women’s rugby.’ There were women who played for their country at their own expense barely a decade ago, watching on with pride in their eyes for their home-turf heroines.
They arrived in expectation, having watched England win 32 games in a row. The RFU have pumped money into the women’s game for seven years and this was a match they could not afford to lose. The pressure was immense on this team that would have been labelled chokers if they had lost another final.
England won the Rugby World Cup after beating Canada 33-13 at Twickenham on Saturday
Ellie Kildunne was one of many stars as the Red Roses won the trophy for a third time
It took a few minutes for the nerves to settle. Having danced through their warm-up and beamed through the anthems, Asia Hogan-Rochester, Canada’s winger with glitter around her eyes, scored the first try down her left wing. It shocked the system, triggering the English machine into action.
They used their power that comes with a full-time training schedule. They smashed collisions, squeezed the scrums and clamped over rucks to win turnovers. There was a sense of inevitability about England’s dominance as the likes of Hannah Botterman and Zoe Aldcroft muscled up.
The Canadians were back-pedalling and, with a penalty advantage, Kildunne had her moment. She stepped in at first-receiver, stepped Courtney O’Donnell, skipped past the last two defenders, leaving 40metres of scorched Twickenham turf behind her.
For the likes of Kildunne, Botterman and Aldcroft, this could be a day that changes their lives. Sponsorship deals, invitations to Strictly Come Dancing, corporate contracts that could dwarf their £20,000 winning bonus.
The challenge now is for the sport to seize its moment. It’s defining legacy. There are currently 60,000 women’s and girls playing rugby in England and the RFU’s target is to get that up to 100,000 within two years. There will be a celebration event at Battersea Power Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Limited edition victory T-shirts are on sale and the players have already been booked in for visits to community clubs next weekend. Lessons have been learned from the botched legacy planning when England’s men won the 2003 World Cup and exhausted players were back in action before the jet-lag had subsided.
Perhaps fittingly, all of England’s tries were scored by players whose hearts were broken in the final four years ago. Amy Cokayne scored from a driving lineout, before Alex Matthews scored from a scrum. The English set-piece was unstoppable.
Canada have been this tournament’s darlings. Their crowdfunding campaign to get here has won hearts of the neutrals, raising a million dollars so their non-professional players could take time away from their day jobs as firefighters and teachers. Shania Twain sent them a good luck message before kick off but luck-alone would not breach England’s defence.
Kildunne scored a brilliant first half try in front of a record 82,000 crowd at Twickenham
England head coach John Mitchell was under huge pressure to deliver the trophy for his side
Lock Sophie de Goede kicked a penalty but they could not break through. Abbie Ward scored in the second half before Matthews scored her second.
This was judgement day for England’s coach, John Mitchell. This was the match he was brought in to win. A gun for hire, with experience of coaching the All Blacks and the England men’s team. He was always going to be judged with a critical eye but there was a warm acceptance when he stepped up to collect his coach of the year award after the final whistle.
Time will tell if he stays on because there is appetite for a woman to take on the role. If the RFU want to follow the Lionesses lead and appoint a female in the top job, Jo Yapp has the CV and experience to become rugby’s Sarina Wiegman.
But those are conversations for another day. This is England’s time to bask in their glory. A chance for Meg Jones to raise a glass to her parents who passed away within the space of four months last year, a chance for Ward to celebrate with her two-year-old daughter, a chance for Cokayne to celebrate with her mates in the RAF.
This is a team who did not grow up with idols in the sport. They watched the likes of Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter. Now they are the ones in the spotlight, the ones on the posters, hopefully leaving a mark that will inspire a new rugby movement.
