England star Hannah Botterman has set herself the goal of establishing herself as the best loose-head prop in the world by the end of the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Botterman starred in England’s opening round 69-7 win over the USA on Friday in Sunderland. It was the start of a campaign where the Red Roses have headed into the competition as overwhelming favourites to win the entire tournament.
Botterman scored the second of England’s 11 tries, and while she was delighted with the team effort, she has her own personal goals too. “I’ve worked really hard over the offseason to get into some decent shape. I don’t want to be shy about the fact that I want to be the best loosehead prop in the world. I want to cement that this tournament. For me, that was a good start, but I feel like I’ve still got a lot more I can give.”
She joked: “Obviously the commentators love Ellie Kildunne, so … She does all the good stuff, so yeah.”
England were facing a USA team complete with Hope Rogers, who is widely regarded to be one of the best loose-head props in the world. “Obviously Hope is a really good player, she plays really well in the Prem week in, week out. But I don’t want it to be questioned [if Botterman is the best prop in the world], if I’m honest.
“I think I am within the conversation and now I just want to push on and keep improving. Everyone can improve everywhere but for a long time, my scrummaging wasn’t the best. I’ve really worked on that and I think that is an area of strength now.
“Attacking wise, I’m happy; defensively I think I can be a bit stronger and chuck my weight around a bit more. I feel physically in a really good spot, now it’s just about putting the performances out there.
“I’ve put myself in a physically-capable spot. It’s just whether I can produce what I want to produce. The desire has always been there but I feel like I am able to do a bit more now and hopefully that has shown on the pitch.
“But ultimately I want the team to do as well as it can, and if I perform well within that, with your Ellie Kildunnes doing well, your Sadia Kabeyas, your Meg Jones, if everyone performs then we put ourselves in a really good spot. It’s been class.”
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Botterman also paid tribute to the work scrum coach Nathan Catt has done in camp.
“Catty’s been great. He’s brought a wealth of experience to us. He works really well with the intricacies of front rows and what we want to do. He’s been massive for us, and having someone who specifically looks at that area has been beneficial for us.”
Overall, Botterman was pleased with England’s opening round performance and was delighted to play in front of a record-breaking crowd in Sunderland.
“We are really fortunate to be in the position that we are now. Seeing all the people who have come before us and really worked to put us in this position, we obviously benefit from that now, but if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here. We’ve just sort of got to soak it up now.”
