THE England women rugby team has capped a year of sporting glory with an honour at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.
The team, skippered by South Shields-born teacher Katy McLean, won the Team of the Year award for their historic World Cup victory earlier this year.
The fly-half, who plays her club rugby for Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, accepted the award on behalf of the team having captained the side to a 21-9 victory over Canada in the final in Paris.
After being presented with the award by Scottish sporting heroes Gordon Strachan and Sir Jackie Stewart, she said: "I would like to thank the RFU and Sport England and our friends and family and to everybody at home, this is a massive turning point for women's sport.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here