The Harlequins fly-half competed in the inaugural Women’s Summer Series which saw the Six Nations teams compete in a tournament at Under-20s level for the first time.
England beat Ireland and Wales in their first two matches, with Cromack playing a key role in the latter victory, before losing their final match to France.
But with a home World Cup for the senior team in 2025, as well as the development of more pathway opportunities, Cromack believes the oval ball can follow in the footsteps of its round-ball counterpart.
She said: “It’s been class. It’s the inaugural tournament and none of us knew what to expect coming into it.
"We’ve been loving it and it’s a great opportunity to get women’s rugby on the map. We’ve really enjoyed it and feel like we’ve really developed throughout the tournament. Yes, the result against France didn’t go our way but we feel we’ve developed.
“It’s huge for the game. The U18s have a Six Nations tournament as well, so this bridges that gap between 18s and Roses now.
“I think women’s rugby is mirroring women’s football in a way. Since that Euros win a couple of years ago, it’s been huge. Contracts are getting better, traction is getting better, more tickets are being sold, so hopefully we’re on that trajectory too.”
England kicked off their campaign in Italy with a 33-10 win over Ireland, before ramping it up with a 55-24 victory over Wales.
But they were well-beaten in their final clash against France, going down 72-21. That was an improvement on the 74-0 loss to the same side in a warm-up match, and Cromack believes the team has taken strides forwards despite that heavy defeat.
“France have that KBA (keep ball alive) element,” added Cromack, who will still be eligible for the Under-20s next year.
“You never know what is coming out of them. They don’t play with a specific structure so it’s hard to analyse them.
“England v France is such a huge game, whether it is at this level or senior level. So it’s the mentality piece as well, we worked a lot on that during the week. It was disappointing not to come away with the result, or have it get away from us as quickly as it did.
"But it’s good for us at this level to go through experiences like this, it will only make us stronger for the seniors.
“It was a huge improvement (on the warm-up game). That warm-up game wasn’t great, they aren’t great memories.
"We were nilled in that one so to come away with three tries was huge. But we’re all competitive people, we want to come away with that win next season.”
