By Milly McEvoy

Lou Meadows credits rugby with changing her life and is encouraging other women to take up the sport through Allianz Inner Warrior camps.

The England Women’s attack coach began playing at university after a childhood of being transfixed by the sport but unable to find a girls’ team.

She is now backing England Rugby’s campaign to introduce rugby to those who have never played before or those who want to get back involved.

The Warrior camps are based on fitness, fun and meeting new people who want to try a new activity and are running across the country until 21 January.

“The Inner Warrior camps are a great way for women of all ages from 11-plus to just get into what is a fantastic sport,” Meadows said.

“It is an opportunity that you can use to socialise, to get fit, to work on something different in your life and to grow yourself in a different way that potentially you haven't experienced before.

“Or if you were involved in the sport in the past a long time ago, and you went a different direction in your life, and you want to reintegrate, it's a great way back.

“It's so friendly, it's really relaxed and informal as well, so you can just turn up and there's no commitment or pressure to be there.

“The socialisation and the different people you can meet, the opportunities that it's given me through this sport, I think the more women that can be exposed to that, and opportunities to integrate and make new friends or just talk about something completely different from life and work itself is a great starting point.”

More than 25,000 women and girls have taken part in rugby since the programme launched in 2017 with over 1,000 camps having been delivered by clubs.

Meadows played for Saracens and Wasps before moving fully into coaching, briefly serving as England Women U20s head coach before joining the Red Roses backroom staff under John Mitchell.

Women’s rugby has become the fastest growing team sport in the world in recent years with Meadows crediting the sport’s unique team aspect for what makes it so special.

She added: “It is a game for everyone. The sport itself, and the physical requirements of it allow for different people, different shapes and sizes, different personalities and characteristics to absolutely shine and grow through the sport.

“There’s so many elements to it, that, regardless of who you are, your background and what your current skill set is or what you think you'll be good at, there's something for everybody. And that's what I think people are drawn to.

“And I think it shows how strong women can be, which is a massive part to it and not just physically but emotionally or mentally and how tough you have to be in a sport like this.”

Allianz Inner Warrior is an England Rugby campaign to introduce rugby to those who have never played before or those who want to get back involved. To find out more, visit: https://www.englandrugby.com/participation/playing/ways-to-play/inner-warrior