England full-back and World Player of the Year Ellie Kildunne tells Sky Sports the Red Roses have a chance to “re-write their Rugby World Cup story into a fairytale” on home soil in a “golden age for women’s sport”.
The last two Women’s Rugby World Cup finals have seen the Red Roses make it through to the marquee Test in the sport, only to lose out to New Zealand on both occasions.
In 2017, the Black Ferns cruised to a 41-32 victory over England at Ravenhill in Belfast but the 2021 final – which took place in 2022 due to Covid – saw the Red Roses as red-hot favourites, only to fall to a shock 34-31 loss at Eden Park.
Now – between August 22 and September 27 this year – England will host a Women’s Rugby World Cup for the first time since 2010, and Kildunne is fixed on turning heartbreak into glory.
“It [World Cup final in 2022] was heartbreak, but we gave everything we could have done. Not one player left anything on that field,” said Kildunne.
Kildunne admits the World Cup final defeat to New Zealand in 2022 was heartbreaking, but says the squad are focused on writing their own fairytale
“It doesn’t really haunt me, if I’m honest. It’s rugby, at the end of the day you either win or you lose. On that occasion we lost and, since then, we’ve learnt a lot of lessons.
“We’ve got new coaches in, new players in. The New Zealand squad is a different squad and we have beaten them quite a few times.
“It was never revenge and it won’t be revenge. We’re just rewriting the story and we’ve got this fairytale we can write. It’ll be a lot better celebrating with thousands of England fans than it would have been the few New Zealand players that were going to be out on the night.
“I like setting the goal that I hope this World Cup takes me beyond my imagination. I don’t know what it’s going to do, whether we win, whether we lose. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I just hope it exceeds my imagination.”
Kildunne’s form from full-back for England over recent years has been sensational
The effects of a victorious home World Cup for women’s rugby and women’s sport in the UK have the potential to be enormous.
The present is a special time in women’s sport, according to Kildunne.
“I strongly believe we’re in the golden age of women’s sport,” she added. “Take the likes of the Lionesses and what happened after the Euros and their success and what that’s brought to them, but also the wider community in women’s sport.
England celebrate their 2024 Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam – their sixth championship success in a row
“I was a true believer that moment was going to happen [for us] after the last World Cup. I just remember thinking I’d let people down in England because I wanted it to grow for everybody. But I was very quickly wronged in my thinking.
“One of my favourite moments was when we played France at Twickenham in 2023.
“I remember putting my hand up against the glass on the bus on the way to the stadium and seeing the sea of fans that had made the journey to come watch. We sold over 50,000 tickets and that hadn’t been done before.
“Win or lose, we’re going to make a difference and we’re going to have the ability to inspire more people than we will ever be able to imagine.”
Crowned the best women’s player on the planet – ‘My year was full of highlights’
Back in December, Kildunne was named World Player of the Year after a string of sensational displays for England.
The Red Roses won another Six Nations Grand Slam, with Kildunne finishing as the tournament’s top tryscorer on nine, and the 25-year-old then played at the Olympic Games in Paris for Great Britain’s sevens side in the summer.
“The whole year was full of highlights,” she said. “It felt like the whole year was a highlight reel. From having a successful Six Nations, the feel in the group got us to a place where we can express ourselves both on and off the pitch.
“The love for not just the game or our style of play, but the love within the group was something that meant a lot to me, and that was definitely a highlight.
The 25-year-old has her mind focused on another huge year following a stellar 2024 individually
“Going to the Olympics and having that opportunity was obviously a highlight, and it was incredible to do that.
“For the upcoming World Cup, we know teams show up for big tournaments, and we definitely know it’s going to be a fight and will take a lot of effort and hard training to get us into a position where we will be in that final.
“I don’t doubt we’ve got the ability to do that, but it doesn’t come easy. Women’s sport and women’s rugby is growing so rapidly that you never know what’s coming around the corner.
“It’s important for us to focus on ourselves and the games we’ve got ahead of us. It’s now all about the one per cent and what we can do individually to put ourselves in the best spot for that final.”
