‘It’s bigger than us’ – England aim to inspire

The morning after the night before.

Less than 24 hours after beating Canada 33-13 to win the Women’s World Cup in front of more than 80,000 people at Twickenham, members of England’s victorious squad were in front of the media. It was chaos.

Two players were expected to accompany head coach John Mitchell. Instead, there was a scramble for extras chairs as five bounded in.

Maud Muir and Abbie Ward grinned from ear to ear. Meg Jones had a baseball cap pulled low over her eyes. Prop Hannah Botterman, whose physio-enforced ban on knee sliding was lifted for the post-match celebrations, sat in the centre, resplendent in a red cowboy hat.

While Mitchell “faded out” of the celebrations about 1.30am, Botterman and captain Zoe Aldcroft, who revealed she had not had a drink for 13 months and two days prior to Saturday night, kept going until 6:30am.

The celebrations will start again at 14:00 BST on Sunday, with a ‘Champions Party’ for fans at Battersea Power Station.

Amid the banter and joviality, the message from the Red Roses was clear: they want to inspire the next generation.

“When you speak about what you remember from these games, for me it’s when we walk around at the end and the amount of parents with daughters on shoulders. They might be no relation to us but those moments mean so much,” said Ward.

“It’s bigger than just us and our game and a World Cup final we’ll remember forever.

“We always said we wanted to win a home World Cup, but the other part was what we can create and how we can inspire people.

“It’s been incredibly inspirational to have my daughter there. She’s driven me the whole last two years.

“The wider picture is how everyone’s daughters have driven us. We wear the T-shirts that say ‘For the Girls’ and it really is.”

It has been a standout summer for women’s sport.

England’s World Cup triumph – their third, following wins in 1994 and 2014 – came exactly two months after England’s footballers beat Spain on penalties to defend their title as champions of Europe.

For Aldcroft, the success of Chloe Kelly and company provided that extra injection of inspiration to put consecutive World Cup final defeats behind them and create a legacy of their own.

“It’s amazing. Earlier in the summer we saw the Lionesses and that gave us the inspiration to do our part and build that momentum,” Aldcroft said.

“We wanted to inspire that next generation, to see young girls in the stadium on shoulders but also inspire them to go to their local club, pick up a rugby ball, get into women’s rugby and be the future Red Roses.”

This World Cup triumph is the crowning glory for England.

They are unbeaten in 33 matches and have won the past four Women’s Six Nations without losing a match.

While they are on top of the world, Aldcroft knows they cannot rest on their success.

When the Premiership Women’s Rugby (PWR) season gets under way in late October, England will be front and centre, not only fighting for their clubs and to keep their international places in an increasing competitive field, but also because their job is not done.

“After we’ve had our celebrations, [this chapter] will close. It’s about bringing the next generation of Red Roses to light,” Aldcroft said.

“We’ll get a fresh look at girls coming into the squad and that’s what keeps us fresh and chasing. We’re very competitive people and we want to be at the top of our game.

“We’ve won the World Cup, but in a couple of weeks we’re back in the PWR and wanting to fight for our clubs. It never stops.

“We want to keep pushing and doing better and better, and that’s the same when we put on an England shirt again. We always want to push those limits.

“We have so much more to go, so many more people to inspire. That’s where it goes from here.”

The attempts made by England’s representatives to articulate the magnitude of their achievement provoked much laughter.

Captain Aldcroft spoke of her “absolute proudness” at seeing what they have “built over three years” come to fruition before being chastised by Botterman for making up a word.

Reflecting on the “insane” crowds at Twickenham, Muir opted for an unusual cultural reference. “The best bit was seeing all the people come out from the stands as we were walking in,” she said. “It felt like a film. I felt like a Borrower.”

But as tiny as Muir may have felt in that moment, surrounded by a record crowd for a women’s rugby union match, Mitchell is already looking to the new heights his team can reach.

“We’re no different to most explorers in the the world. They always find another peak to climb.”