England loosehead prop Hannah Botterman says she wants to become the “best in the world” in her position after helping the Red Roses to an emphatic victory over USA in the opening game of the home Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Botterman was instrumental in her country’s 69-7 win at the Stadium of Light on Friday night and scored one of the 11 tries the hosts ran in as they began their bid for a third World Cup title and first since 2014.

The 26-year-old said: “I’ve worked really hard over the off-season to get into decent shape. I don’t want to be shy about the fact that I want to be the best loosehead prop in the world.

“I want to cement that this tournament. For me, that was a good start, but I feel like I’ve still got a lot more I can give.

“Certainly for the last three or four years, you always want to be the best in your position. I think before I didn’t feel as if I was physically capable to do that.

“Now I’ve put myself in a physically-capable spot. It’s just whether I can produce what I want to produce.

“The desire has always been there, but I feel like I am able to do a bit more now and hopefully that has shown on the pitch.”

On her try against USA, Botterman added: “There’s no feeling like it. Scoring for your country is pretty cool, but first game of the World Cup in front of 40,000-odd people is also pretty cool.

“It was a bit surreal.”

England face Samoa in Northampton in the next Pool A fixture on Saturday August 30, before a final group game against Australia in Brighton on Saturday September 6.

Botterman said: “I feel like the team are in a really good spot. I think we just want to perform to our maximum capabilities week in and week out.

“We probably didn’t go to our maximum [against USA] but there is a lot more to come out there. It’s a good start and we can push on from here.”

England’s World Cup results and fixtures

August 22: England 69-7 United States (Sunderland)
August 30: England vs Samoa – Northampton, 5pm
September 6: England vs Australia – Brighton, 5pm