Tatiana Hurd: England and Gloucester-Hartpury center has never felt ‘more free’

Herd, who has 36 caps, is one of Gloucester-Hartpury’s longest-surviving players and has been a key component of the club’s triple PWR title win in the past three years.

In June, Heard signed a new contract to extend her stay with the club, which she joined in 2017.

She made her England debut in 2018 and was part of the side that reached the World Cup final in 2021 before winning the Six Nations in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

While Herd said she “loved every moment” of playing in the World Cup on home soil this summer, she believes she did not play at her best, despite the pressure she put on herself to do so.

“I can’t say I did my best at the World Cup, so coming out of it and wondering why I had the pressure to not necessarily get the result I wanted in terms of performance is interesting,” she said.

“We still won a medal and the performance doesn’t really matter at the end of the day, no one cares who played well in the final as long as you get the medal.”

Heard added that this realization changed her perspective.

“I was telling the girls that I had never felt freer in my life,” she said.

“It’s a lot of fun, to play a bit of rugby and actually feel quite calm about it. So I’m enjoying myself at the moment.”