The front-row forward, from Hertfordshire, has rugby in her blood, with uncle Gregg Botterman and aunt Jane Everett both former England internationals.
Botterman herself started playing at the age of four, but almost quit the game altogether before joining Saracens in 2017.
As a teenager she was asked to leave Hartpury College and admits she was given too much freedom and got into too much trouble.
“It was the first time I had been away from home,” she says.
“I wanted to be a 16-year-old and do what I wanted, when I wanted. I fell out of love with the game.
“But being a professional rugby player wasn’t an option for me back then. I didn’t have that external driving force that younger girls have now.
“If I knew I could have done this for a living, I would have been a better 16 year old.”
“I worked in a Harvester [restaurant], I did painting and decorating, and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.
“I was given my first two England caps because there were genuinely no props left in England.”
Her international debut eight years ago gave her a focus and a renewed determination.
“From that point on, I put my head down. I ate salads instead of pasties every day. I’d go to gym before and after work, and got myself in good shape to be called up for my third cap a year or so later. I worked hard and earned my place.”
Botterman, who moved from Saracens to Bristol in 2023, has since become one of England’s most dynamic players, winning 58 caps, and helping the team to a 27-game winning streak.
“My exterior look would suggest I am probably a bit intimidating,” she says.
“I may be one of the loudest in the room but ultimately I want to remembered as someone who cares pretty deeply about this team and what we want to do.”
But at the last Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 2021, she faced one of the toughest moments of her career.
In the space of a few days, an injury ruled her out of the semi-final, the final, and rugby for six months – and on the day of the final, her grandfather died.
“That time was extremely difficult, but it gave me a wider perspective that there is a lot more to life than rugby.”
