ENGLAND WIN THE RUGBY WORLD CUP

The last time we won the Rugby world cup I was 1. I'm now 21 and yesterday victory was ours once again. The final was against Canada who we had drawn 13 all with in the pool stages, but we took to a flying start in this match, ending the first half with a lead of 11 points, and putting further distance between us as Canada started catching up, finishing on a total of 21-9.

At this point, you may be wondering what I'm talking about- wasn't it the football world cup this year? And didn't we get knocked out of that pretty early on? Or maybe you already know, due to the sudden interest of newspapers now that we've won it. If they only reported victory for men's sport most of the general public would be wondering what was up. Although that would be because most of the general public would know there was a match on. Flags would be out, TVs would be on, pubs would be full. But this wasn't men's sport. This was the women's rugby world cup.

Celebrating their victory: Source

Female sport is still massively underrepresented in media- only making up 2% of the content of sports coverage in the UK. The women participating in the rugby world cup came from many different professions, most taking unpaid leave to participate in the tournament, while it was reported that the men's England team were paid £41, 666 per man up to the quarter-finals during their world cup.

Men vs. Women sport coverage in 2012: Source

Despite having jobs and living all over the country, England's women team did not let this jeapordise their chances of victory. Captain Katy Mclean told Sky Sports, "We've worked so hard for this, and there are so many great legends that have gone before us that haven't won in an England shirt, and that's for all of them who are here today" 

Katy Mclean, England's captain, works as a primary school teacher in Sunderland: Source

Hopefully there will now be a bit more of an interest in women's sport. We saw a growth after the Olympics, and now we've won the rugby world cup perhaps we'll see even more. Next year sees the women's football world cup taking place in Canada. It's a big sport in some countries now, and I hope this means there will be coverage of it in the UK.

Having women's sport televised more is important, not just because they should be represented as much as men are (although yeah that's pretty much it), but also because it gives young girls role models, it lets them know it's not just boys who get to play football, it gives them confidence to pursue sports they want. 

Remember, there are some brilliant women's sports teams at Royal Holloway, make sure to visit the sports fayre and get involved!