England captain Catherine Spencer believes that the Women's RWC could be a watershed moment for the game in England

Victory for England at the Women's Rugby World Cup could lift the game in the country to a whole new level, according to Catherine Spencer.

While Spencer believes the appeal and accessibility of the sport is on the rise, the England captain believes the Women's RWC is the perfect stage to showcase the women's game, inspire more girls and women to take up the sport and perhaps even win over some of its sceptics.

"It's pushing boundaries every year and exceeding people's expectations, and if it can carry on doing that then fantastic," said Spencer.

"I think it's in a pretty healthy place at the moment but at the World Cup we want to get it even healthier in England, and obviously we'd like to win it. If we can do that on home soil I think that'll take women's rugby in England to another level again.

Accessibility

"Numbers are increasing and accessibility for youngsters is fantastic, and I hope it carries on growing. I'd like to see similar fixtures like we had against New Zealand [at Twickenham in 2009].

"Stuff like that needs to carry on happening to keep pushing forward the global game. You need big events to keep that going and get the recognition we deserve.

"I think the international scene will keep improving and keep getting competitive. Obviously we've got a World Cup every four years, the introduction of sevens rugby will have a big impact and hopefully the club game might get a bit more profile.

"That's what I'd like to see. It's still going to keep growing; it's still relatively a young sport compared to the men's side."

Rugby mad

Spencer's first tentative rugby steps were taken with Folkstone RFC at the age of five, but she also benefited hugely from growing up a in a rugby mad family.

Her dad Nigel figured at number eight for Worthing and Folkstone, twin brother Gregory is a centre for Colchester and older brother Martin can be found playing back row for Hope Valley in the Peak District of Derbyshire.

"I think there's always been mini-rugby for boys but when I played min-rugby 20 odd years ago it was very unusual for girls to play it.

"I think if I hadn't come from such a rugby family, where it was actually quite natural, I wouldn't have picked it up.

Opportunities

"Now, there's a lot more opportunities for girls in schools with the introduction of tag rugby - it's very accessible to girls and boys in school and [there is] a lot more youth girls rugby available as well."

Compared to when Spencer was discovering her love for the game at Folkstone minis, there is now a far clearer rugby development path for young girls to follow to ensure that they can reach the top echelons of the women's game.

"It's a much easier stepping stone for girls to carry on through from an introduction such as tag to senior rugby.

"It's a growing sport; we're seeing a lot more younger girls playing the sport and a lot more clubs with a women's team.

"I think at England level, if we just keep on playing well and get the coverage we want, and deserve, I think people will see it as a sport anyone can do. It's a great fitness and social sport and the stereotypes will start to blow a little bit, and people will see that women can play the sport as well."

World Cup stage

The World Cup is the perfect stage to do just that and Spencer is confident that there is enough quality in the women's game to impress newcomers and doubters alike.

"I think all nations are getting better as the skill sets improve at club level, regional level and under 20s, and that's trickling up through to the senior teams.

"That's only going to continue and you can see it's happening in all nations, not just England and New Zealand, but the other six nations countries, and America and Canada.

"It's the same in the men's game; you've got the southern hemisphere teams at the moment doing well but the likes of Ireland are getting up there and hopefully England will be getting back up to their previous good standard.

"We proved by beating New Zealand that they are not invincible and other teams can chase their tail and ours. In women's rugby in general everyone is looking to improve their skill set whatever country they come from."