ZOE HARRISON: 'IF THERE'S A FOOTBALL IN THAT KIT BAG – THAT IS THE FIRST THING I'LL PULL OUT'

“My grandad supported Arsenal and when we were younger, he told us we were going to support them too,” she added.  

“They were playing Chelsea that day and we were like ‘No thanks, we’re going to support Chelsea’”. 

As a seasoned club and international player with 45 England caps under her belt at just 25 years old, Harrison can no longer watch rugby through a fan’s lens and will never stop being a student of the game. 

“Chelsea games are what I go to and have fun watching,” she said. “I don’t sit there analysing it. 

“I don’t really watch rugby as a fun thing, I always watch it to learn now. 

“I watch the men’s game and take stuff from each 10, look at why they’re doing what they do.  

“I would say to my younger self, work hard and always ask questions. You have someone there like we have [Saracens’ back coach] Duncan [Taylor], go annoy him for stuff to teach you.  

“I still do it now. Every week I’m like ‘pull up clips, tell me what I need to do’.  

“I was fortunate that I had my older brother back then who would go at me for things I’d do wrong and tell me how to play. That helped me.”

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Harrison had to mature quickly, which is partly why the playmaker has already packed so much into her career.

She was a key component in the back-to-back championship winning Saracens teams of 2018 and 2019 and has well and truly cemented her place in the Red Roses squad since her senior debut at 20 years old. 

But Harrison’s age doesn’t factor into her work on the pitch, and she’s now able to pass on what she learned coming up through the ranks. 

“I’ve developed so much in my game knowledge,” she said. “Being able to talk to people on the pitch and helping people out.  

“As a 10 you’re leading your team around the pitch. I’ve got to tell girls that are 30 what to do. I’m helping girls that are older than me all the time because I’ve got to place them in positions that help me.  

“At the end of the day I want our team to win so I’m there to help everyone in the team.

"I’ve been constantly feeding into the younger girls [at Saracens] too because a lot of them are in the backline and I need the wingers to do this or that for me.    

“I don’t think people realise how big the step is from under-18s now to senior women’s. 

“When I came up the league wasn't as hard as it is now. Players who are the age I was are coming into a very hard league and they’ve done really well so far to step up.

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“There are little things when we’re in skills, I might just say try this here and there, just feeding little bits into them.  

“Just little things that helped me when I was younger. 

“We’ve also got Duncan as our coach at Saracens who is incredible, was a great player himself and is so helpful to have.  

“He feeds in what the boys are doing too. 

“I enjoy taking control of the game. I enjoy putting people into space. I just love – and I know I’m bringing Jess Breach up in another thing – but it’s just assisting someone like that is so satisfying.  

“To put them in a hole and see them take off you’re like ‘Yeah that was good’". 

But Harrison doesn’t like to look back or reflect on what she’s done and, as far as she’s concerned, she hasn’t made it yet.

“I’m always thinking about the next thing that’s going on. I haven’t really looked back; I always feel I’m going forwards. 

“I haven’t made it. I haven’t won a World Cup yet.”