Marlie Packer believes England’s captivating run to the women’s Rugby World Cup final in August will help inspire more young girls to get into the sport.
Hard-hitting Red Roses flanker Packer had an excellent tournament and scored two tries in the final against New Zealand, with the Black Ferns running out 41-32 winners.
But with England winning the tournament three years ago and coming desperately close this time around, 28-year-old Packer believes their success is being felt at grassroots level.
“It’s been growing massively since 2014 and the coverage that we received as a team in this World Cup shows that,” said Packer.
“It’s the first time we’ve been shown on primetime TV, which was awesome, and going forward that can only be a good thing as a player and for all the young girls that are watching us.
“It’s also great to see how many women’s teams there are now. Yeovil have a fantastic women’s team, which they didn’t have when I was growing up and played for them, and it does show just how much the whole game is growing.
“What we achieved in the tournament was massive. To get to the final again, to beat a very strong French side, there are lots of things that we can take away from the competition.
“The next challenge for me is to go back to Bristol Rugby, where I’m hoping to get some good game time.
“I didn’t get so much game time last year so I’m looking forward to putting on the club shirt now and meeting up with some of the girls again.”
There was huge interest around the country throughout the World Cup and upon England’s return from the tournament they were invited to meet Prime Minister Theresa May at Downing Street, along with England’s World Cup-winning women’s cricket team.
Packer added: “That was a massive honour and as a team we felt very privileged to be invited.
“Not a lot of people get to walk through that door and it was nice that the cricket girls were there too.
“We spoke about women’s sport and the way in which it’s growing and it’s just fantastic to see how supportive everybody has been of us as a squad.”
