Rugby World Cup: Zoe Harrison on inspiring girls to stay in sport
- Published
Zoe Harrison has 43 England caps
Rugby World Cup quarter-final - England v Australia |
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Venue: Waitakere Stadium, Auckland Date: Sunday, 30 October Kick-off: 01:30 BST |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live; follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app. |
England fly-half Zoe Harrison says inspiring young girls to stay in sport is motivating her as the Red Roses seek a Rugby World Cup semi-final spot.
England are favourites to win the tournament and face Australia in the quarter-finals in Auckland on Sunday.
Harrison said "people tried to bully her" out of rugby when she was younger.
"I want to show girls that it's not a man's sport and don't let people tell you otherwise," the 24-year-old told BBC Sport.
"It motivates us, especially off the back of what we've seen happen with the Euros," she added, referring to England women winning football's Euro 2022 this summer.
"The amount of girls that picked up football after that - we want that. It doesn't matter what sport it is to me, as long as girls are doing it and continuing it instead of getting to that point where you're 16 or 17 and chucking it in the bin."
Off the pitch, Harrison is known for the TikTok videos she has made with team-mate Jess Breach.
She added that through her social media accounts she wanted to show young girls that being a rugby player did not mean you could not also be feminine.
"It's me either dressed up to go out or me playing rugby," she said.
"It shows that you can do both. Back when I was younger I used to get called a man. You can go out and look like a girl then still play rugby."
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