“I haven’t even scratched the surface of my potential.”
Those were the words of England full-back Ellie Kildunne in November when she was named World Rugby’s women’s player of the year.
The 25-year-old scored 14 tries in nine tests for the Red Roses last term, and it looked, on the outside, as though maintaining form before a home Rugby World Cup – which starts in August – was all she needed to do.
But Kildunne strived to become even better.
After featuring late off the bench against Italy in York, a first start in this year’s Women’s Six Nations came in the 67-12 hammering of Wales at Principality Stadium.
The Harlequin marked her 50th cap with a second-half hat-trick and a player-of-the-match performance to properly kick-start the biggest year of her rugby career to date.
“Pressure is definitely a privilege,” Kildunne told BBC Two.
“Our potential is the unimaginable. We are going to keep getting better. I really think we are going to take it to levels that we’ve not been to before.
“We are just going to keep pushing until we get to a point that we just can’t imagine what is next.”
Two of Kildunne’s tries were relatively straightforward dot downs, with the third an instinctive finish from a kick-through.
When the whistle sounded for the start of the second half, Kildunne had no tries. By the 56th minute, her hand was above her head for yet another signature lasso celebration after a third score.
Kildunne made the most carries (16) and metres (145m) in the game, but it was her kicking game which stood out.
From tidy deft chip-kicks to cause havoc in the backfield to grubber-kicks to turn the Wales defence, Kildunne has widened her game to be more than just a lethal counter-attack runner.
“She is starting to serve the team in different ways and there are going to be times that teams take away the counter-attack from her,” England head coach John Mitchell told BBC Two.
“She is world-class with that plan A [running it back], but she is going to have to adapt in 2025 as certain teams will not allow her to get ball.
“We have to use her in the right way.”
