The Red Roses are pioneers in the growth of women’s rugby, with the number one ranked team in the world doing all they can to get more fans engaged. From launching their own team specific social media channels (@RedRosesRugby), to Emily Scarratt’s leadership of the podcast scene, the team is working hard off the pitch to share the talents that are showcased on it week after week.
Amongst them is Jess Breach, England’s 26-year-old wing with one of the best strike rates as a try-scorer. The Saracen marked her England debut with a staggering six tries in against Canada in 2017, and has since accrued a total of 40 tries for the Red Roses, adding her most recent brace in the 38-19 win over France last Saturday. However, whilst Breach shines on the pitch to lift England’s points tally, she is also influential within the social media sphere, to improve the online support for the side.
Breach is an avid poster on TikTok (@jessicabreach) where she shares behind the scenes videos of the Red Roses camp, and vlogs from her daily life as a Saracens and England player. Also, Breach recently partnered up with her England back-three teammate Ellie Kildunne, to launch the Rugby Rodeo podcast, to bring an added insight into the world of women’s rugby. As Breach and Kildunne embark on this new journey into the podcast world, Breach shared her admiration for the Harlequin, and Kildunne’s previous work in partnership with 02 and leading fashion brands.
“What Ellie has done with 02 and England Rugby has been really good. It shows a different line, that maybe we can go into more like fashion wear, and that, yes, we’re rugby players, but I think everyone else has different attributes and interests outside of it. I think the article (63% of rugby union fans can’t name a Red Roses player) is a really important piece to have to just to know where we where we are, and where we stand. It’s an interesting percentage to hold, because as players, we wouldn’t think that, not that many people would be able to name us.”
“We just have to keep doing more to promote ourselves and the team, to showcase what we’re about and how fantastic we are as individuals and as a team and as a union, and to just keep pushing the boundaries. We can only move forward from it in the best way possible.”
The first edition of the Rugby Rodeo podcast focuses upon Kildunne’s recent ventures into the world of Olympic Sevens rugby. However, whilst Kildunne and the Great Britain squad pursued their Olympic dream, United States sevens star Ilona Maher was the player who was taking the headlines. The most followed rugby player on Instagram, Maher entered Paris with one million followers, with her total skyrocketing up to almost four million in recent weeks.
Maher was recently unveiled as a contestant on the new series of American TV show ‘Dancing with the Stars’, which will only continue to grow women’s rugby across the Atlantic. Maher’s social media efforts previously warranted real financial benefits for the USA Eagles Women, with Breach expressing her support for the inspiring Maher, who embodies her mantra of Beast Beauty Brains on and off the pitch.
“I think it’s amazing for the game, no one can say it is damaging. Because the more that people push us, the more publicity we’re going to get. She’s (Maher) done it in the most natural and organic way to herself. I think that’s why she’s got such traction, is that people get to know her as the individual and then the team, she’s not fake behind the camera or anything like that. That’s what people have liked about it.
“She’s going into different areas of TV, broadcast, advertisement that maybe we haven’t reached into yet. Someone has to do it first, and she might find things that she’s not comfortable with, or she wouldn’t want someone else to do this, or be a part of this because of ‘XYZ’. It’s good that she’s being able to push it and go into different directions. We can all choose to either get behind it or applaud it from the side. She’s done really well. Instagram and social media is a way to push the game forward for us.”
“It’s hard not to chat about someone that’s literally got 4 million followers, and is a female rugby player, that’s hard to not talk about. Insights from her would probably be quite good, as in maybe if we could knuckle her down and be like, ‘Oh, how did you do this? Has this been good for the team?’
“Which it has been, because, would they (USA Women Rugby) have got the 4 million pound sponsor for the next four years, if she hadn’t grown it as much? It’s all those questions, and it has been definitely spoken about in a positive way, which it should be.”
Turning her attention back towards the on-field performances, and England need to muster up a serious squad effort if they want to come away with a result this Saturday. The stage is set at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium, as the Black Ferns of New Zealand come to South West London for a hotly anticipated exhibition Test match.
The Black Ferns are expected to bring a star-studded line-up with them, as they complete their own preparations before joining the Red Roses in Canada for the upcoming WXV1 tournament that starts on September 29th. With the likes of women’s rugby trailblazer Ruby Tui, and Paris Olympic Sevens gold medallist Stacey Waaka at their disposal, Breach is reminding her Red Roses teammates to focus on themselves and not put too much importance upon the names they are set to face.
“You can’t think about the individuals, because their game plan might not even be involving them or getting them on the ball. You just have to play the game of what’s in front of you, and not the name or the person.”
“Everyone’s really excited. It’s good to get one game under our belt. Mistakes or just some errors crept into the game (against France) that hopefully we can iron out for this weekend. I think no one can say they’re never excited to play at the home of England rugby, at the Allianz. It should be really fun, hopefully it’d be a really good test match going into WXV.”
“They’re a very physical team. They definitely like to bully other teams up front, but they also like to throw the ball around in the backs. They’re definitely a team that we don’t face that often, but I think it’s a good challenge for us. They give something different to us, which I think is exciting, I think they are as excited as we are.”
There is no better time than the present, for the Red Roses to lay down a statement of intent against the back-to-back Women’s Rugby World Cup champions. England are set to host the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, with just 2024 WXV and the 2025 Women’s Six Nations between now and a crack at immortality at winning the showpiece tournament. The Red Roses were beaten by the Black Ferns in the 2022 Women’s Rugby World Cup Final, but then England achieved some redemption last year, with a rare victory on New Zealand soil in the inaugural WXV tournament.
England and the Black Ferns will meet once more on Sunday October 6th, in round two of 2024 WXV. Breach recognises how getting more game time under their belts against New Zealand is critical in identifying their weaknesses ahead of the 2025 World Cup. Breach is eager to showcase the full strength of the Red Roses in Saturday’s test at a packed out Allianz Stadium, and win this all important exhibition match.
“It’s definitely a lead up into WXV, which will then be a lead up into Six Nations, which obviously will then be a lead up into the World Cup. So I think as cliche as it is, it’s just another game, and it’s a test for us. Now they might show us something completely different that we’ve never seen, and we might do the same to them. So I think you have to take it as just the game. Yes, there is that rivalry, but it’s a good rivalry, and that’s what you want in test match rugby.”
“It’s incredible to get really good matches under our belt, nobody doesn’t want to be involved or be a part of it. I think us playing them (New Zealand) now and then again in WXV, just shows how much growth the game is having. That they can come over to us on the way to go to WXV, and we can play them two times leading up until the World Cup. The more we play them, the more we get used to playing them, and hopefully, when it comes to that World Cup it will be a different story.”
England head coach John Mitchell will likely look to unleash Breach against the Black Ferns, with the Saracen out to add to her already impressive try-scoring tally. As earlier mentioned, Breach crossed over for two impressive tries against France, as the Red Roses put Les Bleus to the sword last Saturday in Gloucester’s Kingsholm Stadium. Breach re-called her delight in scoring the brace, but expressed how she aims to elevate her game to be more than just an out-and-out finisher.
“It’s always nice to get them. The first one, credits to Maddie (Feaunati) really, she did really well to manipulate the defender. And then the second one, I don’t know, people ask me about it, but it (finishing off tries) just happens. I think as an edge player, it maybe comes naturally. It was nice, but the team definitely did well to be able to put ball into space and for me to be able to finish.”
“I was just put into that bracket of being a finisher, when I’m trying to, adapt my game and get better in different areas. So, I think if people put me into space and I score tries, I try and think about the work that the team has done to get me into that place, for me to be able to do my job to the best ability. Yes, at the end of the day, scoring tries is really fun, but also winning and playing well in different areas is also really good.”