Ellie Kildunne’s exploits in England’s World Cup success have not gone to waste

Ellie Kildunne is even being recognised by the bin man as England savour a World Cup triumph that she hopes will propel the women’s game to fresh heights.

In a reflection of the Red Roses’ growing profile since being crowned global champions, Kildunne has been immortalised as a one-off Barbie doll that does not leave her side.

“I’m completely taken aback that I have my own Barbie! Wherever I go it follows me! I need to look after it because it’s like a little voodoo doll – I don’t want anything to happen to it,” she said.

As the poster girl for the home World Cup and the scorer of three breathtaking tries at the business end of the tournament, Kildunne has been at the forefront of England’s charge to the pinnacle that includes an unprecedented 33-Test winning run.

Now among the most recognisable figures in rugby, the 26-year-old is determined to capitalise on the surge of interest in the women’s game after 5.8million viewers watched the final on TV and a record crowd of 81,885 were in attendance at Allianz Stadium.

“Even when I went down to the car to go to the shop, the bin man stopped me. I couldn’t believe it,” the Harlequins full-back said.

“He said ‘is it you?’ I said, ‘who?’ He said ‘Ellie, the rugby player!’. It is really cool. If people recognise me, it’s probably because of the hair.

“I guess it puts a bit of pressure on that I’ve got to make sure my hair is done, which it definitely wasn’t at that point!

“It just shows where women’s rugby has gone and how much the visibility has stepped up.

“Rugby is on a platform now that it hasn’t been on before and people will recognise us because of that. We’ve just got to keep being our authentic selves.

“The sky’s our limit. We can do whatever we want with it. The next generation can do whatever they want with it. We’re going to use this momentum now to keep on growing.

“Brands have come on board and they’ve all invested into the World Cup. I just hope that it doesn’t stop at the World Cup because it’s not a PR stunt.

“Investment allows the girls the opportunity to get better and grow and be able to really commit themselves to the game of rugby. We want it to become very normal for young girls to play rugby.”

England’s success at taming their World Cup gremlins – in six successive finals they had prevailed just once – was overseen by John Mitchell, the respected Kiwi head coach who was recruited in 2023 to deliver the ultimate prize following so many near misses.

Mitchell’s contract ends in June, but Kildunne wants her “second father” to remain charge.

“I want him to be my coach for the rest of my career. He cane in with a fresh mind and wanted us to express ourselves, both on and off the field. No-one was boxed into a corner,” she said.

“He’s like a second father to many of us because we spend more time in camp than we do with our families! But he has trust in his girls as much as we’ve got trust in him. There’s no other person who would have been able to get us to this point.”