The heavens opened and the rain poured but it could not dampen the spirits of the thousands that gathered at Battersea Power Station to celebrate England’s Women’s Rugby World Cup triumph. The Red Roses had bloomed in their own backyard in front of a capacity crowd on an emotional day at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Twickenham and, having relocated to central London, captain Zoe Aldcroft and her side soaked it all in with the decommissioned towers rising high beyond them.
With the teeming rain heralding autumn’s arrival, this marked a fitting finish to a glorious summer of English women’s sport. Who better, then, to get the party started than Lioness Lucy Bronze. “It feels like deja vu,” the double European Championship-winning footballer remarked only a couple of months since she and her teammates had paraded down The Mall to Buckingham Palace.
