There is still a balancing act, though.
England only went into camp on 28 October – the day the women’s tournament launched – and have had just three days of preparation as a squad before their opening match to limit the time players have to take off work.
Rudge – a PE teacher who has captained the national side since 2018 – said that could be a thing of the past if England can emulate football’s Lionesses and claim a major title at home.
“It’s really difficult – it’s like having two full-time jobs and there’s not enough hours in the day to do everything to the best of your ability,” she said.
“It’s a massive challenge, but hopefully it won’t be forever, and this will be the last World Cup where women are working as well as trying to be a full-time international athletes. Watching the Lionesses and what they achieved was massively inspirational.
“If we can win the World Cup, I think asking women to go back to their full-time jobs would be difficult. We’ve got a massive part to play, and having success in this tournament will push things to change sooner.”
Leeds full-back Caitlin Beevers also believes the tournament could be a catalyst to nurture the stars of tomorrow.
“The World Cup is going to be massive for the women’s game. We can see the game developing with younger age groups. When I started, you could only play for the lads’ teams,” said Beevers.
“I used to look up to the men, which was fine, but it’s great to see the shift.”
Rudge added: “The school that I work at have booked trips to bring a lot of the kids down to watch games. It is exciting for the kids that they can watch people they are around playing on such a big stage.
“The kids are following it so much more. I get a lot of ‘good luck Miss’ messages – but if I do something wrong I also get a bit of stick.”