Prop Sarah Bern secured the World Cup title with England in September.
Bigger, better, faster, stronger.
Just five weeks after England’s World Cup victory, prop Sarah Bern is already focused on personal improvement as she returns to her club, Bristol.
Following a career pinnacle at Twickenham, Bern might have been expected to take more time to find renewed motivation or to simply bask in the glory of being a world champion.
However, the tighthead prop feels quite the opposite; the excitement of rejoining her club has fueled her desire to push harder towards new objectives.
“After dedicating hard work to England and achieving our goals, returning to the club offers a chance to refocus on individual development,” Bern stated.
“With England, our focus was on teamwork and fulfilling our roles to secure the World Cup victory.”
“Now, back with Bristol, it’s about identifying and pursuing individual improvements. It’s a reset, preparing us for the next cycle. I’m excited to be back, aiming for new targets and striving to be bigger, better, stronger, and faster.”
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Sarah Bern came off the bench for England during the World Cup final win against Canada
Bern describes the weeks since the Red Roses’ triumph as “wild”.
“[It was] from winning the World Cup final, being on top of the world and then doing so many cool appearances or going to some cool events, and having some downtime to see friends and family – and then straight back into it in the rain at 9:00 pm on a Tuesday night and getting shouted at by the coaches,” she said with a laugh.
While many of her team-mates have been in training since September, the 79-capped forward and her fellow England internationals only returned to the club in the past fortnight with some new faces in situe.
Former Scotland hooker Scott Lawson has taken over as the Bears’ new head coach, while Rhys Oakley has joined as defensive coach from three-time PWR champions Gloucester-Hartpury.
Adapting to the revised playbook has presented some initial challenges, but Bern anticipates that the team will ultimately benefit from these changes.
“Learning the new strategies quickly has certainly been a challenge,” Bern acknowledged.
“But if we execute it correctly, it will be incredibly beneficial for us.
“Navigating these moments of rapid learning will be worthwhile in the end, as mastering these strategies will propel us to the top.”
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Bern expressed “extreme confidence” in the continued growth of women’s rugby following the World Cup, which achieved record viewership for the tournament.
There is also growing discussion surrounding the proposed new R360 league, with reports indicating that several of her England team-mates have already signed pre-contract agreements, external.
“Any opportunity for female players to get paid equally is always great even along those lines but at the minute I don’t know too much about it to be able to comment on it,” said Bern, who signed a new Bristol contract of undisclosed length in March.
“You’ve got to continually think about the growth of the women’s game – as long as it’s good for women, let’s see how that goes.”
Currently, Bern is completely focused on Bristol.
Their dominant 74-0 victory over Leicester last Sunday, featuring 12 tries, marked a successful start to Lawson’s leadership, with Bern contributing off the bench for the final 30 minutes.
Next weekend, they will host Saracens in what Bern expects to be a much more demanding contest.
Bristol have reached the PWR semi-finals three times before and in 2024 got to their first final. Winning the league title still remains elusive though.
“I’m definitely confident in the Bears and the Bristol way, so I’m excited to see how we perform for the remainder of the season,” Bern concluded.