England women's head coach Gary Street keen to build on World Cup success
Thursday 20 November 2014 13:13, UK
England head coach Gary Street says there is a strong desire within the squad to build on their World Cup success.
England were named team of the year at the Sunday Times and Sky Sports Sportswomen of the Year Awards on Wednesday evening, while Street picked up two separate awards – UK coach of the year and high performance coach of the year at the UK Coaching Awards in Glasgow.
Twenty England players were given professional contracts following their World Cup win, and Street told Sky Sports News HQ they are determined to continue their upward curve.
“I’m just incredibly proud,” he said. “The girls make a lot of sacrifices and choices. We were all amateurs going into the World Cup and some of the work that the girls did was incredible. They showed huge dedication and for them to pick up what they deserved was so satisfying.
“I think it’s key that we continue getting better. The perception of women’s sport, and in particular rugby, has changed.
“I was fortunate to meet Michael Johnson last week at Pennyhill Park. The reason he is such a great is not because he won a race and got a gold medal. He did it time and time again, and broke nine world records and won four golds.
“That’s the secret of great teams. We’ve got the 15s and obviously there’s the Sevens as well with Rio in 2016, so we’ve lots of things to battle.
“But we’ve got great kids coming through; the pathway is fantastic. The support from the RFU has been incredible since integration. We just need to keep going forward.”
Benefits
Street says that England’s players are already feeling the benefits of turning professional, and he is confident they can juggle playing two different codes.
There is a strategy to get 100,000 girls playing in the next 10 years. We’ve had massive support from the RFU. The sport is booming and we need to keep at it.
“We’ve got about 20 contracted players and they’ve been in for around two months now,” he said. “They’ll play Sevens and 15s but obviously they’ve a big eye on Rio in 2016.
“I think the girls have trained pretty much the same, but they now have the chance to get some rest and recovery and to be elite athletes. That’ll be the big difference, along with time spent on their rugby skills. Hopefully we’ll see that coming to fruition in the coming months.”
The number of women playing rugby has seen a substantial increase over the past 12 months, and Street believes it will continue to rise.
“Everywhere I go there are around three times as many girls turning up at rugby clubs,” he said. “We already have 18,000 players registered, up from 15,000 last year.
“There is a strategy to get 100,000 girls playing in the next 10 years. We’ve had massive support from the RFU. The sport is booming and we need to keep at it.
“Recognition like this provides role models for young girls that might want to be a rugby player one day.”
