Reigning world feminine participant of the 12 months Ellie Kildunne has stated she intends to emulate Lionesses star Chloe Kelly by guaranteeing her identify is printed on followers’ shirts following the Girls’s Rugby World Cup.
The Harlequins fullback is brimming with confidence forward of her nation’s quest for international glory on residence soil and has taken inspiration from England’s footballers retaining their European Championship title.
Arsenal ahead Kelly performed a starring position in England’s Euro 2025 triumph in Switzerland; propelling herself into the limelight by scoring the successful objective within the Euro 2022 remaining at Wembley.
Kildunne is essential to the Pink Roses’ ambitions of lifting silverware at Twickenham subsequent month and hopes the workforce can comply with within the Lionesses’ footsteps by changing into family names and elevating the profile of ladies’s sport.
“Outdoors this pub, there are Chloe Kelly shirts being bought on the road,” Kildunne stated.
“That is what the Euros have completed for the Lionesses and the chance we have got with this World Cup is to have Kildunne shirts being bought on the aspect of the road; for younger women and boys to have posters of Emily Scarratt and Meg Jones on their partitions and never simply Jonny Wilkinson.
“I am impressed by the Lionesses and what they’ve completed for girls’s soccer and I hope for nothing much less [for women’s rugby] than what they have been in a position to obtain thus far.”
England launch the World Cup on Aug. 22 towards america in Sunderland and also will face Samoa and Australia in Pool A.
The hosts go into the competitors because the world’s top-ranked workforce, match favourites and having gained the final seven Six Nations titles.
After watching Sarina Wiegman’s Lionesses come from behind in every of their knockout matches this summer season, Kildunne stated she feels John Mitchell’s aspect could require related resilience.
“Their skill to maintain on preventing and never giving up is one thing that conjures up lots of people,” she stated.
“Because the Pink Roses, it is one thing we are able to take inspiration from as a result of it isn’t going to be simple, we will need to put a number of graft in.
“I can not go anyplace with out somebody speaking concerning the Girls’s World Cup or the Pink Roses. We will need to get used to it as a result of it isn’t going to decelerate any time quickly.”
Kildunne cemented her standing as a poster lady for the match by being topped world participant of the 12 months following a standout 2024 which introduced 14 tries in 9 Exams.
The 25-year-old stated she is undaunted by the prospect of elevated scrutiny.
“It’ll add that focus on on to my again; I see it as strain however I do not assume strain is a foul factor,” she stated.
“I see strain as as privilege and I positively assume it is a good factor. I exploit the strain to problem myself to exceed individuals’s expectations and to rewrite what individuals might imagine I can do and take it to the subsequent stage.
“I am feeling sturdy and assured — probably the most assured I’ve ever felt — so I am prepared and raring to go.”
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Kildunne was a part of the England workforce overwhelmed 34-31 by New Zealand within the 2022 World Cup remaining following an 18th-minute purple card for teammate Lydia Thompson.
“The frustration and the heartbreak of the final World Cup reignited a flame inside me that I already thought was burning fairly vibrant,” she stated.
“We have learnt a lot from that match and constructed a lot in our tradition that we’re in a totally completely different house.
“It is one thing that you would be able to rewrite and that is one thing that we’re very a lot targeted on. It isn’t a revenge story, we’re simply rewriting.”
