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Will Greenwood has called on Canterbury’s Amy Garnett to bounce back from her World Cup final heartache and target a revenge mission in four years time.
Garnett was just one match away from lifting the women’s World Cup for the first time since 1994 after enjoying an unbeaten run to the final at the Stoop.
However, in a repeat of the previous two finals in 2002 and 2006 England fell at the final hurdle to New Zealand – this time agonisingly losing 13-10.
But Greenwood (pictured) - a World Cup winner in 2003 - admits Garnett should be proud of her efforts and use her near-miss as inspiration to ensure England end 20 years of hurt in four years time.
“The women’s game has come on leaps and bounds now that we have players like Amy who are becoming household names,” said Greenwood, who is helping to launch the MasterCard Be Number 23 competition.
“Amy is being known for her talents on the rugby pitch as opposed to anything else which is a really great thing to see happening.
“And the other great thing is that we have a great team as we showed in the World Cup. We just lost in the final to those pesky All Blacks who seem to be brilliant in any form of the game.
“But are still a dominant force in the world and that is testament to the hard work these guys put in. The whole team is taking huge steps in the right direction.”
Aside from England’s World Cup final heartache Garnett and co have enjoyed a successful year having won their fourth Grand Slam in the past six years back in March.
And Greenwood – who won 55 caps for England – believes the England women’s team should be rewarded for their efforts with a busier fixture schedule.
“I think there is talk of them playing more games which is great to see and the final against New Zealand was such a great game,” added Greenwood.
“It is a shame to play New Zealand just once every four years so to have more games of that calibre would be great.
“The game has come on so much and people want to watch it. It is one of the fastest growing sports in this country and there are some real talents emerging so the more we can get of it the better.”
