A 'family choice' leads to World Cup success for RAF star Amy Cokayne
Royal Air Force Rugby World Cup winner Flight Lieutenant Amy Cokayne and her father Ian, also a serving officer in the Air Force, have been talking about the journey, some might say sacrifices, they've made for her to reach the pinnacle of the game.
That included two losing World Cup finals, the last by a single point in Auckland in 2023. Before that, a family decision was made to leave New Zealand's North Island, where Ian served with the Royal New Zealand Air Force and return home, so Amy could have the chance to play for England, rather than the Black Ferns, after she had an England trial.
Ian says: "We don't call it sacrifices, we just call it choices and we've now got a world champion as a daughter, we went all in and we won."
Meeting the young players at Mansfield Rugby Club to share in her success, Amy says, is really important because, like all her fellow Red Roses, she wants to inspire the next generation of players, just as she was inspired as a girl by the success of the England men's team when they brought the World Cup home from Australia in 2003.
She said: "I think to see all different ages, whether it's tiny little humans or adults as well, is huge. So hopefully some of these girls will follow in our footsteps."
And that certainly rubs off on the Mansfield Under 16s girls team, delighted to put her world cup medal round their necks.
Their captain, May, says: "It means a lot seeing Amy inspires us to want to go on and show her what we can do."
And who knows, maybe in a few years, Mansfield Rugby club will be welcoming one of their own back as a future Red Rose!
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