San Francisco Frontiers - England's Kildunne getting extra kick at World Cup

Such tie-ups have long been a staple of men's sport, with the Stan Smith Adidas shoe still going strong despite being named after the American tennis player in the 1970s.

But the sight of Kildunne, the reigning World Rugby Player of the Year, taking the field at Ashton Gate in her personalised Canterbury of New Zealand Speed Elite Falcon boots would have been unthinkable until a few years ago.

Yet such has been the growth of women's rugby -- next week's World Cup final at Twickenham will take place before a sell-out 80,000 crowd -- that companies such as Canterbury are eyeing a commercial opportunity.

"I've designed clothes with them but I've never before shown up on the stage when I've designed some boots," Kildunne told AFP in an interview

Kildunne, back in world number one England's side after missing last week's quarter-final rout of Scotland with concussion, added: "I feel very proud to be part of an ambassador role inside Canterbury because they trust me in this space and I've been able to create something that has got the Ellie touch on it."

The 26-year-old full-back's career has coincided with the evolution of women's rugby from an amateur game to, in England's case at least, full professionalism and it's been a long time since Kildunne had to wear men's kit.

"It's easy to sit and reflect on the negative things that have happened, but the progress that has been made is so positive," she said.

- Women 'at forefront' -

Footwear, however, remains a thorny issue, both in football and rugby.

Research published by Exeter University this month found 89 percent of female rugby players they surveyed experience pain or discomfort from the boots they're wearing.

But in deploying biomechanical testing and 3D foot scanning, they have developed the first soft-ground boot specifically for female rugby players, with the inaugural version tested during this year's Women’s Six Nations.

"For the first time, we've put the needs of female athletes at the forefront of boot design," said associate professor Sharon Dixon, adding much previous research had resulted in "designs being based on optimising performance and minimising injury risk for men".

Abby Middlebrooke, who plays for Exeter in the English Premiership and was one of the players surveyed in the study, added: "Most boots I try don't fit me and are quite uncomfortable... it definitely has a negative impact on your performance.

"Inside a female changing room we’re constantly taking out or putting in studs just to try and make a boot practical and a lot of the girls are having to see foot specialists just from running around in a way that's injuring them.”

Laura Youngson, the co-founder of soft-boot manufacturers IDA Sports, established in 2018 to provide female specific sports kit, said she hoped the Exeter findings would mean "more brands will invest in the women athletes as we have proudly done over the last seven years".

And a buoyant Kildunne insisted: "The opportunity we've got in this World Cup is to keep on pushing our messages out there.

"Women's sport is going to take over and for brands to recognise that, take the leap and jump to see where it takes them, it's only going to go one way because the game is growing at a rate that no one can keep up."

T.Rivera--SFF