Zoe Stratford took two weeks to bask in England’s Women’s Rugby World Cup glory.
Then it was back to the grind.
Shortly after lifting the world title in front of nearly 82,000 people at Twickenham, the England captain and her club and country team-mate Natasha Hunt were picking up something else – the keys to a new business venture.
While each of the Red Roses earned a World Cup-winning bonus of £20,000 and the most lucrative of their central contracts are worth just short of £50,000, all of England’s squad have to make plans for life after rugby.
Wing Abby Dow, 28, retired after the tournament to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. Hooker May Campbell combines her rugby with working at a crypto payment company. Amy Cokayne is a police officer in the Royal Air Force.
Lock Stratford and scrum-half Hunt have chosen a different route, opening a coffee shop together.
The pair have premises close to Kingsholm, where they run out for PWR side Gloucester-Hartpury.
“It’s been incredibly fun renovating it, putting our ideas into it,” said Stratford.
“With rugby we had so much intensity coming into the World Cup. Afterwards we were a bit exhausted with it, so this gave us a new lease of life.
“We didn’t just have rugby, we could put our energy into this coffee shop and making it ours.”
Their shop is called ‘MoZo’ – an amalgamation of Stratford’s first name and Hunt’s nickname ‘Mo’.
Stratford says that the venture has given her a valuable distraction from sport, allowing her to switch off when she is away from the pitch.
“It is super important to have these other interests,” she added.
“I think the reason so many of the girls are successful is because they have interests besides rugby. The coffee shop give us that release.”
Both Stratford and Hunt have been getting stuck in on the shop floor working shifts, including on the day of Gloucester men’s match against Castres in early December.
“I am terrible at coffee art,” Stratford said when asked about the skill of making patterns and pictures in the frothy top of drinks.
“I stick to the till. Mo is very good though. Sometimes I mess the stock up and she is pulling her hair out with me, but it is cool.
“It is something we have wanted to do and hopefully we will grow it.”
Three-time defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury have won all seven of their PWR games this season, while both Stratford and Hunt were named in a 47-strong England training camp this month.
England begin the defence of their Women’s Six Nations title against Ireland at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on 11 April.
