Sarah Rendell takes a weekly look at some important women players THIS WEEK... ELLIE KILDUNNE
HARLEQUINS AND ENGLAND FULL-BACK
Ellie Kildunne was told she couldn’t play in her school’s boys rugby team as they received complaints – because she was ‘running rings’ around everybody else!
Kildunne, 21, who has just signed for Harlequins from Wasps, says: “I was the first girl in the history of my school to play in the boys team in year 7. In year 8 when girls aren’t really allowed to play with boys the rules changed so I played down a year. That year they said ‘look we recognise you from last year and there’s quite a few complaints’ because I was running rings round the boys so the rules ended up changing.
“There were a few coaches that had said she isn’t allowed to play down a year. It was pretty much mid-season and I wasn’t allowed to train with them anymore.”
Kildunne tried a local team but they were teaching only the basics so her mum found where the Yorkshire trials were. Kildunne had to play for a club to try out so she made one up to get in the door.
She adds: “I said the old boys team I played for had a girls’ team. I did the trial and was successful but they said ‘we know they don’t have a women’s team, you need to find one’.
They put me through with West Park Leeds and I played for them alongside my county and then North of England.
“When I was 16 I moved from my school to Hartpury College to expand; once I did that the opportunities opened up for me.” Since then her rugby career has gone from strength to strength. She played for England Sevens and qualified for the Olympics before the Sevens programme was cut by the RFU.
It was at this point Kildunne had to choose between her Olympic dream or a 15s contract. “Everyone was finding their own jobs,” she says. “Going back to being gym instructors, nannies, coaches and I didn’t really know what to do because I came straight from school. I do uni on the side [Sport Science at St Mary’s] and I thought ‘do I do that full-time?’. After some really hard discussions I was offered a 15s contract. “I want to be the best player in the world and I thought to myself ‘I can’t be the best player in the world being a nanny in the day and then training in the evening’. So I took the contract to change my mindset from the Olympics to the World Cup.
“It was a difficult decision but I’ve stuck by it. I’m really excited for the World Cup. I’ve got a new focus and I’m looking forward to the Sevens girls smashing it.”