Sarah Bern has gone from having the lights turned out on her training sessions to sharing the same facilities as the men at Bristol Bears, and earlier this month played in front of a world record crowd of 58,498.
Within the last ten years the women's rugby landscape has changed drastically with the recent Six Nations breaking records for viewing figures and smashing attendance records across the board.
Grand Slam winner Bern, 25, played in every game in England's fourth consecutive title win as an injury-plagued Red Roses bounced back from the hurt of their World Cup final loss to New Zealand in October.
The prop started round five's 38-33 victory over France at Twickenham in a match that was played in front of the biggest crowd the women's game has ever seen and says England's formidable campaign, which saw them score 271 points in just five games, is a testament to their incredible strength in-depth.
She said: “We have such a strong Premier 15s that it's very easy for players to come in and out. It's still a big jump but it's not as big as it has been in the past.
“We have such a great squad and with our injured players coming back it's only going to get stronger and stronger which is amazing.
“I love the Six Nations. I'm a traditionalist, I love how we play the same nations every year and also a lot of our friends play for Wales, Scotland and Ireland as they play in the Premier 15s. It's really nice seeing the amount of people that went to games during the tournament.
“Since being on BBC, our viewing figures have gone through the roof. We're matching male Premiership teams and women's football viewing figures. The amount of people we have coming to our games was shown in the big crowd against France. I think it shocked the RFU.”
The former Gloucester-Hartpury forward joined Bristol in 2018 and has enjoyed a standout season this year, scoring four tries in nine games.
Bern returns to Premier 15s duty as the league enters the business end of the campaign with the play-offs fast approaching.
She said: “I love Bristol as it puts me in the best place to be an athlete. They have brilliant nutritionists and coaches who work on my speed and power. If I get all of those things right and I'm enjoying them, then the onfield stuff can take care of itself. We have a great attacking game plan set up by our head coach Dave (Ward).
“I remember training at Bristol as a 17-year-old in the evening and the floodlights would go out after the men finished. Now in our performance centre we have the same chef, the same nutritionist and near enough the same provisions as the men which puts me in great stead for when I go into England camp.”
Sarah Bern is an ambassador for Wooden Spoon, the children's charity of rugby who fund life-changing projects to support vulnerable children and young people across the UK and Ireland.
