There are many things in Ellie Kildunne’s life that reflect the extraordinary growth of not only her own career, but also of women’s rugby in England and female sport in general.
She will start the Women’s World Cup, which begins on Friday, as officially the best female player on the planet.
She has signed sponsorship deals with Asahi, Canterbury and LG, among others, built her own fashion brand and posed for glossy front page magazine shoots.
Kildunne, 25, also graduated from St Mary’s University Twickenham with a 2:1 in sports and exercise science this summer while still in pre-season with England.
But it was on a remote Italian mountain top a few months ago that the penny dropped for Kildunne as to how far she’s come in the sport she loves.
‘Life has changed and I do get recognised,’ Kildunne told Daily Mail Sport as she prepares for a global glory bid as part of John Mitchell’s Red Roses set-up.
England star Ellie Kildunne will start next week’s Women’s World Cup as the game’s No 1 star
Kildunne already has several brand deals and now her own profile is set to go to another level
Full-back Kildunne is a wonderful runner and a key part of England’s World Cup squad
‘Sometimes, I don’t actually believe it! I actually got recognised on holiday while I was in Italy. I was in a restaurant in the mountains and the waitress recognised me.
‘I’m proud of that. It doesn’t actually change anything. But it does make me think about how do I want people to remember me and what message do I want to send?
‘Most of the time it’s buy tickets to watch England at the World Cup because you’re going to see something special!
‘The more I do, it definitely comes with more pressure.
‘I don’t necessarily see that pressure in a bad way. But I do see it as my responsibility to always be myself. It’s easy to just say things people want to hear. That’s not me.
‘I want to be authentic. That’s what inspires people. I don’t want to go on Google and see a ChatGPT-type answer next to my name. I want to be true to myself and if I say something, I’ll believe it 100 per cent. I speak from the heart.
‘That’s normally the right thing to do.’
Kildunne’s ever-growing profile is set to go to another level entirely in the coming weeks. On Friday, she and England will begin their World Cup campaign against Ilona Maher’s USA at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light.
Kildunne has said she wants to be her authentic self and say what she really thinks in media
Kildunne has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Lionesses superstar Chloe Kelly
England are firm favourites for the tournament. They are far and away the best team on the planet and have home advantage. In Kildunne, they also boast the current World Rugby women’s player of the year.
England haven’t lost since they were beaten by New Zealand in the World Cup final of 2022. No-one should be able to stop them this time. Their last warm-up match saw them hammer France, one of the few teams normally capable of rivalling them.
‘We all understand the pressure on us as a team,’ full-back Kildunne said.
‘But that’s only there because we’re brilliant and we’ve played and won under that pressure. ‘We’ve had success. I’m proud to be in a position where people expect us to do well.
‘First, it shows people care and second, it shows we’ve played well enough to have success and people are used to that. Pressure? What pressure?
‘This is an opportunity to show what we’re about and then exceed that. We want to go past what we’ve done before. I’m excited for the opportunity we’ve got to not just redefine women’s rugby for the rest of our careers, but for the rest of our lives.’
After English football’s Lionesses claimed a second consecutive European Championship title in thrilling fashion this summer, their rugby compatriots are now hoping to follow suit with silverware of their own.
Young footballers all over the country are now copying Chloe Kelly’s iconic penalty routine or dreaming of being the next Leah Williamson or Alessia Russo.
England’s rugby team hopes to win a trophy on home soil after being inspired by the Lionesses
England are firm favourites for their home tournament and haven’t lost a game since 2022
The RFU hopes England winning their own World Cup will have a similarly significant impact on women’s rugby. In Kildunne, among others, they have fantastic players and models on which to market the female game.
England should breeze past their Pool A opponents of USA, Samoa and Australia with the September 27 final at Twickenham the ultimate goal.
‘It’s a golden era of English women’s sport and how great it is to be a part of that,’ Kildunne said.
‘We’re massively proud of the Lionesses. The ripple effect they’ve had on women’s football in England by being successful has been amazing.
‘As soon as I saw the start of that, it was something I wanted to do in rugby. I want more people to be involved in rugby. I want young boys and girls to know there’s an opportunity to play the game.
‘Only a few years ago I remember I had a conversation with my agent and I said how I thought there should be more brand opportunities for women in sport.
‘Now, brands are getting on board. I feel very privileged, proud and grateful to be in the position where I can get supported by people who want to grow women’s rugby.
Free spirit Kildunne brings an adventurous approach to life both on and off the field
Kildunne (centre left) enjoys telling her story to the media to help grow women’s sport
Kildunne is a certain starter when England begin their World Cup bid against USA on Friday
‘The more we can get these sort of brand deals, the more exposure we’ll get and the greater that will benefit the women’s game. It’s now at a bigger stage than it ever has been before. But this is just the start. It’s going to go on getting bigger.
‘We’ve spoken about the journey to Everest and compared the World Cup to that.
‘If you set off on a journey to Everest and try and do it in one go, you’ll die. Simple as that. You’ve got to have different stops and hit base camps. That’s what we’ve done. The Six Nations was a base camp. Our Everest summit is the World Cup final.
‘This World Cup is going to be more than we could ever imagine. It’s going to be the biggest stage of our career so far. We have things up our sleeve. I’m not going to say what they are. What I can say to opposition teams is be prepared to get better.
‘We’re not going to stop. We’re playing for the opportunity to show the world how good we can be. People better get ready.’
