HUNTER: WE CAN LEARN FROM FOOTBALL
FORMER England captain Sarah Hunter believes the female game is rugby’s biggest asset in its bid for global growth. The Red Roses kick off their Six Nations campaign against Italy in Parma tomorrow, with the sport a totally different proposition from when Hunter made her international debut in 2007. Then, women’s rugby was entirely amateur, was barely covered by media outlets and was played in substandard stadiums in front of poor crowds. Now, England have professional contracts and last season claimed the Six Nations by beating France at Twickenham in front of a record crowd of 58,498. ‘The women’s game is where rugby can probably get most growth,’ said Hunter, 38, now England transition coach. ‘I do think it can get even bigger still. Football is leading the way with the Women’s Super League and the Lionesses and that’s something we in rugby are striving to emulate. There is such a buzz around women’s football. Arsenal Women are selling out the Emirates. The hope would be to try to emulate that.’ Hunter is the most-capped women’s player in England rugby history with 141. She was a 2014 World Cup winner and was also captain of the teams that reached the finals in 2017 and 2022. The Six Nations starts the countdown to next year’s World Cup which will be hosted in England — and the RFU is aiming to sell out Twickenham for the final, hoping the hosts can gather the sort of momentum England’s footballers did when they won the 2022 Euros at Wembley. ‘We have to be realistic about where football is compared to rugby,’ said Hunter. ‘But with the way the next home World Cup is, we’re not just in one place. ‘The near-60,000 fans at Twickenham last year wasn’t by accident. It was from us taking the game around the country. ‘It’s the same with the World Cup. Everyone will get an exposure to the game at a world-class level which hopefully will help it to grow. ‘Hopefully that will lead to a sold-out Twickenham and an upsurge in women and girls playing rugby. ‘If we get something similar to the Lionesses, that would be brilliant. ‘Fans went on a wave with them and the support they got closer and closer to the final was incredible. ‘There is a massive opportunity for the Red Roses to do something similar.’