Sarah Hunter

You look at what is happening in the United States and how they talk about the women’s football team. We were on tour when the Fifa Women’s World Cup was going on and the Americans were talking about them as just a football team. That is where we want to get to.

We have seen the growth in attendances across sports this year. There is a buzz about women’s sport as a whole. But over the coming year, the next step is for more broadcast opportunities. The more people are aware of what is out there, the more it will grow. That, in turn, attracts sponsors, commercial revenue. Everyone has to work in partnership.

My highlight away from rugby was the 77,000 who turned out at Wembley for England versus Germany. That was a significant moment in women’s football. And then there was Dina Asher-smith and Katarina Johnson-thompson at the athletics World Championships. We have a lot of discussions around team sports but to be able to achieve individual greatness on the biggest stage is quite unique.

For me, to finish the Six Nations off at Twickenham, for the first time in my 12-year England career, and win the Grand Slam was a special moment. Winning in France, our first win there for seven years, during the autumn Tests was a big moment for us, too.

Another standout moment was the record attendance of 10,500 who came to watch us at Sandy Park. It felt like we were changing the perception of women’s rugby. It was a standalone match that people wanted to watch in its own right, not because of a double header with the men’s team, not because of it being a World Cup.