It was 6.30am when the last of the triumphant Red Roses began to roll back in to their Teddington team hotel, captain Zoe Aldcroft and prop Hannah Botterman among the last women standing the morning after the night before. A long-awaited World Cup winners’ party had been, as one would expect, wild – it did not take long for a redesigned trophy to be repurposed into a drinking vessel, as is custom after such a success.
For Aldcroft and scrum half Natasha Hunt, the first sups of victory perhaps tasted a little sweeter; celebratory ciders in the dressing room were their first drinks for more than a year, the pair turning tee-total in pursuit of a long-awaited success. “13 months and two days,” came the croak of the captain when asked how long it had been without alcohol – not that she had been counting.
