England loosehead prop Hannah Botterman says she needs to grow to be the “best in the world” in her place after serving to the Purple Roses to an emphatic victory over USA within the opening sport of the house Girls’s Rugby World Cup.
Botterman was instrumental in her nation’s 69-7 win on the Stadium of Mild on Friday night time and scored one of many 11 tries the hosts ran in as they started their bid for a 3rd World Cup title and first since 2014.
The 26-year-old mentioned: “I’ve worked really hard over the off-season to get into 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 need to cement that this match. For me, that was a great begin, however I really feel like I’ve nonetheless received much more I can provide.
“Actually for the final three or 4 years, you at all times need to be the most effective in your place. I believe earlier than I did not really feel as if I used to be bodily succesful to try this.
“Now I’ve put myself in a physically-capable spot. It is simply whether or not I can produce what I need 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.”
On her attempt in opposition to USA, Botterman added: “There’s no feeling like it. Scoring for your country is pretty cool, but first game of the World Cup in front of 40,000-odd people is also pretty cool.
“It was a bit surreal.”
England face Samoa in Northampton in the next Pool A fixture on Saturday August 30, before a final group game against Australia in Brighton on Saturday September 6.
Botterman said: “I really feel just like the staff are in a extremely great place. I believe we simply need to carry out to our most capabilities week in and week out.
“We probably didn’t go to our maximum [against USA] but there is a lot more to come out there. It’s a good start and we can push on from here.”
England’s World Cup outcomes and fixtures
August 22: England 69-7 United States (Sunderland)
August 30: England vs Samoa – Northampton, 5pm
September 6: England vs Australia – Brighton, 5pm
