Red Roses recognised in World Rugby awards
Ellie Kildunne has been named World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year and is included in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream team of the Year along with five other England players.
She beat fellow Red Rose Alex Matthews, France’s Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Alex Tessier of Canada to claim the title in Monaco, after a stellar season where she scored 14 tries in 10 Tests.
“I’d like to congratulate Ellie on an exceptional year and a well-deserved accolade,” said Red Roses head coach John Mitchell. “It’s truly inspiring to see one of our players from such an outstanding team receive this prestigious recognition.
“I know Ellie would be the first to credit the incredible support and dedication of her teammates, who have been instrumental in her success this year.”
The Red Roses have been victorious in 50 of their last 51 Test matches, having defended both Six Nations Grand Slam and WXV 1 titles. Their dominance is shown by six inclusions in World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of the year:
- Ellie Kildunne
- Zoe Aldcroft
- Maud Muir
- Alex Matthews
- Holly Aitchison
- Abby Dow
Aitchison and Dow were key to England’s success during the Six Nations; Aitchison kicking 42 points and Dow with a hat-trick against Ireland.
Aldcroft hit a milestone, getting her 50th cap against Ireland at Allianz Stadium, the same match she stormed over half the pitch to score a try, while Muir topped up her try tally to five.
Matthews put two tries to her name against France for the Six Nations decider in Bordeaux and captained the Red Roses against the USA, their highest scoring game of WXV 1.
Elsewhere, the International Rugby Players Special Merit award was won by former Red Rose Vickii Cornborough, who retired earlier this year. From her debut in 2015, she went on to win 75 caps, six Six Nations titles and was part of two World Cup finals. She wins the award for her contribution to professional rugby both on and off the pitch.
"I started my career with the intention of leaving the shirt in a better place than when I got it, and I definitely think I achieved that with the Red Roses," said Cornborough.
"Being able to achieve all the amazing successes that I did during my Red Roses career, but then also set up the future generations to be able to catapult themselves into stardom and achieve things that are beyond my wildest dreams is really special.”
