Abbie Ward has made it to a Rugby World Cup final before, but this time things are slightly different. Now, her daughter is watching pitchside.

Ward is the first woman to have benefitted from the Rugby Football Union's (RFU) maternity, pregnant parent, and adoption leave policy, which includes 26 weeks of leave on full pay.

The second row forward, 32, is featuring in her first World Cup as a mother with England facing Canada in the final at a sold-out Allianz Stadium, Twickenham on Saturday.

"It's been surreal, a rollercoaster," Ward told Sky Sports.

"And if you told me at the last World Cup, after that final [when England lost to New Zealand] 'you'll be in another one, and this time you'll have your daughter watching pitchside or at home'... it makes me emotional thinking about it."

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