Sarah Hunter hails importance of Rugby World Cup heading to her home

South Wales Argus

5 days ago

The North Shields native will be part of the Red Roses' coaching staff when England take on the USA in Sunderland for the opening match of the tournament on 22 August.
With no professional women's rugby team in her home region, Hunter believes the World Cup can play a huge role in inspiring the next generation.
"When we look at the World Cup, the success of the team is important, but I guess for myself, but it is also about legacy," she said.
'If we don't grow the game from a grassroots level, and we don't get more people coming into the game, then the international game is not going to keep flourishing.
'Especially in the places where they might not have Premiership teams, they might just need that little bit of exposure and visibility to draw them into the game.'
York will also host games in the North East of England, while England's other group stage matches are in Northampton and Brighton.
Hunter retired from rugby after playing her final Red Roses game in Newcastle and almost immediately transitioned into coaching.
She was supported by the Gallagher High Performance Academy (GHPA), a World Rugby initiative which aims to increase the number of female coaches in elite rugby.
It does so by providing workshops and mentors as well as embedding coaches with unions at major tournaments.
Sixteen more coaches will be involved in the GHPA at the Rugby World Cup, while Hunter's role is just one of the success stories of the first cohort.
It is a journey that would never have started without watching her first England game.
She added: 'I didn't even realise England Women had a team until I was 16 and that is because I had to go down to London to watch a game.
'But now that could be a 14 or 15-year-old girl in the North East where they have been taken to go to the Stadium of Light where you've got the Red Roses coming.
'You've got some of the best players in the world and just that inspiration that they might need, that they might not have got otherwise.
'It is going to be a theme as we go through this whole World Cup of what can the players do, what can the teams do to create that lasting legacy in this country but globally as well.'
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