RAF and Plumbing: England's stars balance day jobs as World Cup looms

England's women's rugby team will play for the Women's Rugby World Cup title at Twickenham on Saturday, led by players who have balanced professional careers with elite sport. Among them is Amy Cokayne, one of the few England stars who still works outside rugby. The hooker is a Flight Lieutenant in the Royal Air Force, part of the RAF’s Elite Athlete Scheme that allows her to focus on rugby while keeping her military career in the background.

Cokayne, 29, will line up against Canada and may, at some point, return to her role of keeping pilots in order. The scheme supports athletes by providing financial backing and time away from duties. She has joked about never arresting anyone, given her responsibilities.

That dual-life is part of a broader shift since England last won the World Cup in 2014. Back then, the squad was amateur; captain Katy Daley-McLean taught at a primary school in Sunderland, and vice-captain Sarah Hunter worked as a development officer for the RFU. Veteran Marlie Packer, part of the 2014 group, returned to her plumbing job after the tournament, taking seven weeks of unpaid leave to train.

Now, England is one of the few fully professional nations in women's rugby, a factor in their rise to the top of world rankings and their status as favorites in the World Cup. Canada, ranked No. 2, fields players on the Premier Women's Rugby in England and even launched a crowdfunding drive to maximize its competitiveness. In 2014, the path to the trophy for England was paved by amateur status ending the moment the tournament concluded; the landscape has since transformed dramatically.

Beyond the core group, other players have high-level day jobs or changed careers. Lark Atkin-Davies was a primary school teacher before becoming a professional rugby player, and Hannah Botterman described nearly choosing a path in painting and decorating before securing a contract with England. The 2020s generation has benefited from professionalization; Meg Jones, a standout in the tournament, faced a Covid-era crossroads that left her considering a future with Amazon before her England career continued. She noted that during lockdown, she did not know if she would have rugby as a career. "Toilet breaks are not really a thing. You're in at 5am and then you'd leave about 4pm without having to wee," Jones recalled of life before professional rugby. During the pandemic, several players were made redundant as contracts shifted and the RFU furloughed some sectors, underscoring how far the sport has come since then.

On Saturday, Jones and her teammates will look to deliver England's first World Cup title on home soil. The current squad includes players who did not have the option to hang up their boots and return to their previous jobs but instead built new professional identities that stretch beyond the pitch. The shift has allowed England to sustain a higher level of training, travel, and competition, helping them maintain world No. 1 status and head into the final as favorites. The Canadians, with a mix of professional players and those balancing other commitments, are determined to challenge England at Twickenham.

The World Cup narrative this year centers not only on a championship bid but on the evolution of women's rugby in England and the rest of the world. For many in the squad, the 2014 triumph remains a reminder of what was possible when rugby was still largely a part-time pursuit. The current generation, supported by professional structures and broader resources, seeks to write a new chapter—one in which women can pursue sport at the highest level without stepping away from careers they have built outside the sport. As the team prepares for the final, the players carry with them stories of balancing duty, family, and ambition, and a belief that the sport’s growth has created opportunities that extend far beyond the pitch.