England’s Millie David: ‘Ellie Kildunne is so nice. The first time I met her I cried’

Millie David of Bristol Bears (right) takes on Ellie Kildunne of Harlequins. ‘You put players you watch on TV on a pedestal,’ David says. ‘You think of them as not real people but they are just people.’ Photograph: Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Millie David was almost speechless when the England head coach, John Mitchell, called to say she would start for the Red Roses against Wales. All the wing could get out was “thank you so much” over and over, despite having more she wanted to say. On Saturday, the 20-year-old will realise her England dream at a sold-out Ashton Gate, the home ground of her club, Bristol Bears.

The first thing David did after the call was jump in her car to tell her No 1 fan, her dad. “Bless him, he started crying straight away,” she says. “We are quite an awkward family so for him to do that in a public place as well just showed how much it meant to him.”