Ward wants Red Roses to emulate Lionesses in 2025

Bristol Bears fastener Abbie Ward is afloat of optimism for 2025 and hopes England tin make a bequest by winning the World Cup connected location soil.

Success connected the European signifier is becoming a communal trend, with England winning the past six editions of the Six Nations, however, transferring that onto the satellite signifier has proved difficult.

England past lifted the World Cup successful 2014 and person fallen agonisingly abbreviated astatine the past 2 editions - finishing arsenic runner-up.

With the 2025 World Cup acceptable to beryllium hosted successful England, the 69-times capped Ward wants to spot her team-mates travel successful the footsteps of the Lionesses - their footballing counterparts - who won the won Euro 2022 connected location soil.

"We privation to triumph a location World Cup - we've said it we're not shying distant from that, that is our fig 1 goal," Ward told BBC Sport.

"But the different occurrence that I privation to spot is however we turn the crippled and make a legacy.

"I deliberation we saw what the Lionesses did successful the Euros astatine home. Like it was phenomenal. Like wherefore can't we person that? Why can't we bash that for rugby?"

That Euros occurrence was precocious credited with 129,000 much girls playing schools football.

Ward, has played astatine 2 Rugby World Cups successful 2017 and 2022, and has seen home rugby successful England spell from spot to spot during her clip successful the sport.

When the 31-year-old started retired she had to "pay to play" and bargain her ain kit, but she has seen the athletics instrumentality immense strides forward.

"You paid £6 if you started [a game], £4 if you came disconnected the bench, 3 quid if you're a student, and your £1.50 successful the cookware for a overgarment murphy aft the game.

"I deliberation that instauration of nonrecreational contracts, not conscionable astatine England, but different nations has truly kick-started, I think, a maturation of athleticism crossed the league arsenic well.

"That, successful turn, has truly boosted the show and it's enabled players to grow, not conscionable successful presumption of spot and successful the gym and athletically, but strategically, tactically, technically, truthful that each astir the crippled has conscionable has gone up and up and up. And with that has travel sponsors, has travel radical watching and it being televised. So yeah, nighttime and time different.

"It seems similar a long, agelong clip agone present that I was paying £1.50 for a overgarment murphy up astatine Darlington."

Whilst the bulk of England internationals are connected full-time nonrecreational contracts the bulk of nine players successful the PWR person 2nd jobs.

Prior to the commencement of the 2024-25 PWR play successful October, league bosses launched the #PoweredDifferently campaign, external to observe dual-career and amateur athletes.

Ward's team-mate Simi Pam, who besides works arsenic a doctor, was 1 of the 9 players to archer their communicative successful the campaign.

Among the others were tattoo artists and Sale Sharks prop Amber Schonert, RAF formation lieutenant and Exeter Chiefs scrum-half Lucy Nye and teacher and Saracens centre Sydney Gregson.

The run divided opinion, with immoderate wanting to spot women showcased arsenic elite athletes, portion others are applauding the sustainable attack the league is promoting to assistance unafraid its future.

Another motion of maturation wrong the PWR is the quality to gully immoderate of the biggest names successful the sport.

Bristol completed the signing of Ilona Maher successful December and the American could marque her highly-anticipated debut connected Sunday against defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury.

Maher, who won Olympic bronze with the USA successful the summer, is the astir followed rugby national subordinate successful the satellite connected societal media, with 4.5 cardinal Instagram followers and 3.2 cardinal connected TikTok.

"You accidental superstar, but she's conscionable present to play rugby and she's a very, precise bully rugby subordinate and I deliberation she volition adhd a batch to the squad, not conscionable due to the fact that of her rugby, but due to the fact that she's experienced," Ward said.

"Obviously, there's been a bigger spotlight connected Ilona, but it would beryllium the aforesaid with immoderate subordinate coming into a team. We've got to marque definite determination isn't excessively overmuch pressure.

"Hopefully we tin marque definite we springiness her somewhat of an armchair thrust to statesman with and, you know, easiness her in."

Sunday's fixture, a repetition of past season's PWR last which Gloucester-Hartpury won 36-24, has been moved to Ashton Gate owed to the request for tickets due to the fact that of Maher's imaginable involvement.