The scream Abby Dow let out when she broke her leg was so piercing, she was told it caused a child who was close by to pass out.

“How bad is that? I should have really held it in a bit,” Dow told ESPN with half a smile and half a look of concern.

It was April 9, 2022 in a Six Nations clash against Wales. Dow needed surgery on a spiral fracture with her leg broken in three places.

A typical recovery time for the injury was around 10 months.

Dow’s mind instantly went to the upcoming World Cup, which was due to kick off in New Zealand in just six months time in October.

Any chance of playing was a long shot. A race against the clock with Dow the heavy underdog. She asked the specialist if she would make the tournament.

“Honestly, you probably won’t,” Dow was told.

“I just remember sobbing and then Emily Ross, my physio said, ‘we’ve got a small chance and we’re going to do everything we can for that small chance.’ She worked every single day on me.”

Ross even watched the surgery as it happened, wanting to understand exactly what was going on. After what she describes as “the most intense” period of her career with day-after-day of physio, Dow recovered in time to make the World Cup squad.

– Amy Cokayne: The RAF officer and one-time Kiwi powering England’s scrum
– Can Ilona Maher transform the Women’s Rugby World Cup?
– Hannah Botterman: I want to be best prop in the world

In the opening match against Fiji, she came off the bench to score in the second half.

It was Oct. 8, 2022 — one day short of six months from her leg break.

Dow starred as England reached the final, scoring four tries after coming through huge physical and mental adversity. While the Red Roses didn’t clinch the trophy, Dow took a lot from the experience.

“I learned so much about my body and how I was meant to treat it and what I could do to it and what its limits were,” Dow says. “I think before I was quite raw in that sense.

“So actually coming off the back of that, I now have a lot more understanding of what my body needs.”

Dad jokes and crochet

Dow has been a crucial part of the side’s development since 2022. Now one of the first names on the team sheet, the 27-year-old has won 54 caps for England. Strong on defence to go with her attacking threats with the ability to score tries and set them up.

She is also the self-proclaimed “dad joke” expert in the team. “The issue is I find myself funny,” Dow explains.

“Well I don’t think anyone else finds me funny. I normally eat a lot of groans, but that means I’m funny.

“I think I’m cool personally, but whatever. That’s fine.”

Her passion for crochet came into focus before the clash with Samoa. Having been rested for the match, Dow was putting the needles to work in the stands before kick off.

Whether working up a crochet masterpiece or questionable jokes is your thing or not, it is an example of the melting pot of personalities which makes the Red Roses unique, likable and ultimately, successful.

A winning environment starts with players being allowed to be themselves, which breads culture and cohesion and on-field success.

Be it Dow’s jokes, podcasts that various players are involved in or social media, each England player has room to express themselves.

The world’s best back three

If England are to lift the World Cup their back three will play a key role.

Wingers Dow and Jess Breach as well as fullback Ellie Kildunne have already flexed their collective muscles, with eight tries between them, despite Dow and Kildunne only playing one match so far.

While the old adage of defence wins games may be true, having an elite attacking line up like they do is a huge reason England are such heavy favourites.

Once they get going, they are hard to stop.

“I think we’re really fortunate as a back three unit that we were able to play in different combos and play a lot of minutes with each other,” Dow explains.

“We know how each other play. We’ve played with each other in the [PWR] and we’ve played against each other in the prem.

“We’ve got our different ways and we know how to work together. Jess is a very different winger to me and Ellie is very different at fullback than if I was to play fullback or Jess was to play fullback.”