Shaunagh Brown column: Saturday’s win against France on BBC Two was a game-changer

In her third BBC Sport column, England prop Shaunagh Brown talks about a game-changing match on BBC Two and the karaoke celebrations that followed.

Saturday’s win against France on BBC Two was a game-changer.

Having a game on free-to-air TV outside of a World Cup feels like the real beginning for women’s rugby.

It is the shift change. It sounds corny but it is my dream come true. This is why I play rugby. I want it to be accessible to all.

I did not know rugby existed growing up so just having people know it exists and seeing there are different types of people on the pitch is so important to me.

Our team has people of different body types, heights, weights, skin colour, hair types. This is the exposure that it needs. It is the start of a huge journey.

Because we were on BBC Two, I had a lot more messages than normal. People contacted me on Instagram saying they had never watched a women’s game before but they would now be making an effort to watch more.

One of the best things is when black girls message me saying they saw me playing so they gave it a go too.

More established fans sometimes send me artwork of me playing. This is the most special one, it is up in my living room.