SARAH HUNTER, vice captain of England’s Rugby World Cup-winning team, spent a day with Cirencester College sports students on Monday.

Sarah led touch rugby training sessions with both male and female students and also reflected on her sporting life, from learning the game at the age of nine to playing in two Rugby World Cup finals.

“It would have been easy to give up in 2010 after losing the World Cup to New Zealand by only three points, but we wanted to come back and win and this was our challenge over the next four years,” said Sarah.

She also helped the college launch its ‘Six Book Reading Challenge’ sharing her experiences about how reading the biographies of other elite athletes had been really inspiring for her.

Sarah, who is a university rugby development officer with the RFU for the South West, added: “Giving back to the grass roots of the game is something that’s really important to me.”

Rich Stonebridge, Head of Sports at Cirencester College, explained the importance of literacy and sports studies.

“This has been a fantastic opportunity for students to hear first hand from an elite athlete about what it takes to get to the top of their sport,” he said.

“Also, as part of the educational focus on literacy, the sports department has been looking for new and innovative ways to engage students in widening their knowledge, not just to aid their sports studies but to create more rounded individuals.”