“I like capturing people’s laughs; I think being able to hear it through the picture is so cool,” Maud Muir says as she discusses her favourite photographs from hundreds she has taken behind the scenes in the England women’s camp over the past five years.
Muir, the 24-year-old prop, and her teammates are preparing for a home Rugby World Cup, starting with the opener against USA in Sunderland next Friday.
In a quiet moment away from the intensity of squad preparations Muir discusses her other passion: the candid images she has captured of life with her club Gloucester-Hartpury, since moving to the West Country in 2022, and since she was first called up to the England squad the year before.
The pictures and vlogs have included the “heartbreaking” 2022 Rugby World Cup final defeat, and provide fans with an insight into life as a professional player. While Muir has incorporated photography into her rugby career, it has been a presence in her life for a longer period of time.
“I always loved a camera. Probably more so being on the other side – I loved having my photo taken. Whenever I saw the camera was out, I would always get in front of it. That’s probably why I do a lot of vlogs and videos and post them on my Instagram.
“I love looking back on memories and I filmed quite a lot of the last World Cup. It’s super-cool to look back on. With the Premiership wins we’ve had, especially before the new season starts, I resend the videos into the group chat.”
Muir says she always brought a camera into England camp but was inspired by her teammate Ellie Kildunne to upgrade her equipment. Muir says she loves capturing the moments fans don’t see and she shares them for nostalgia.
“I love looking back at my pictures. On my camera roll I have about 70,000 photos. That is from across five years, there are many more before that. I know now social media is growing and it’s great to post things to grow your brand. That is so important. But I never want to forget why I originally started taking photos and videos and creating little vlogs: because they are more for me and my team to be able to look back on them and remember all the good times.”
Photography is not the only creative string to Muir’s bow. She has tried many hobbies but they do not tend to stick. “I am a ‘try a hobby for a week and move on quite quickly’ kind of person,” she adds. “There is a group of us who are like that. At the last World Cup I made a scrapbook, which is so cool to look back on. I should get it out of the loft before going to this one to look back on all the memories.
“A few of us are making one this year. We have a little craft box and we’re going to start that for the World Cup. I do get random scrap and junk from all tournaments. I haven’t made one since New Zealand but I have collected stuff for the last three years. I am not very good at sticking to things unless I am hyper-focused on it.
“I do a lot of random other things like clay, I love pottery. When I move out I want to have a pottery wheel in my back garden and be able to go down to the shed. But it’s kind of awkward when you’re living with someone else [Muir lives with some Gloucester-Hartpury teammates]. You can’t really take over and have a massive kiln in the garden and add all the heat to the electric bill.”
The scrapbook for the last tournament, which was Muir’s first World Cup, would have ended with the team jetting home without the trophy. The Red Roses’ campaign led them to the final against New Zealand but England lost to the Black Ferns for the second consecutive tournament, and that defeat remains a motivating force for Muir.
“It’s actually the only game I have lost in an England shirt,” she says. “I hadn’t known what it was like. This is the game that matters, all the other games before that, not that they haven’t mattered but it doesn’t have a consequence.
“I remember being so devastated, everyone was. We were all heartbroken. I think that does drive me quite a bit to not feel like that after a game again. I think it was a learning curve for a lot of us. We do talk about it now and we have learned from it. It’s just being able to move on and park it but make it as fuel for this one.”
England have not lost a game since that final and they have only become more dominant. Their final two games before the 2025 Rugby World Cup were won 97-7 and 40-6 against Spain and France respectively and Muir believes they were the perfect gauntlet to lay down for their rivals at the upcoming tournament.
“We obviously want to win but especially in that France game we performed as well,” Muir says. “We wanted to go out there and be like ‘this is how we play’ and send a statement to the rest of the teams. It does fill us with more confidence that our plans and training, everything is working.
“The cool thing is that we know how much better we can get. We could have put a lot more points on France – we weren’t as accurate as we hoped but we put 40 points on them. It is really good for us to know that even not at our peak we can still perform and put points on a really class side but also know we have a lot of work still to do.”
Muir and England will be hard at work to try to win the trophy that has evaded them since 2014. If all goes to plan come the final, and they lift the silverware, Muir will be ready to capture it through her lens.
Maud Muir’s five favourite photos
This picture was taken in New Zealand during a staff v players cricket game. It shows the emotion in everybody even in a friendly game!
Lilli’s first cap shirt presentation alongside Scaz; one of the youngest and oldest in the team yet they still have such a strong bond.
At Canada WXV for Botts’ [Hannah Botterman’s] 50th cap. I feel like you can hear the laughs through this photo. I also love how the heights gradually go up It just shows how diverse in size rugby is.
Whale watching in Canada. I love capturing the girls’ emotions – especially laughs.
A cowboy hat for a cowboy. This tournament was when the cowboys were “formed” and I definitely think since then the cowboys have grown!
