Just under three years ago Tatyana Heard started working in a supermarket.

The centre’s route to World Cup stardom aged 27 is as unexpected as that contrast suggests.

She has taken the long road to the tournament thanks to not one but three anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

It was as Heard was preparing to return from the last of these that the Covid-19 lockdown began.

The Gloucester-Hartpury back was left without an income as coaching work dried up, and instead turned to her local supermarket.

Six days a week Heard would get up at 3am, work until 10am, have a nap, train, eat, then go back to bed before it would all start again.

“It was pretty boring,” she tells BBC Sport. “I never thought I would even be playing in the World Cup let alone starting in the semi-final.”

How school prepared Heard for World Cup pressure

Heard’s surprise was shared by many when she was named in England’s World Cup squad in September.

Given a contract to return to the Red Roses after a three-year break in March, she was included over the more experienced Amber Reed.

Heard did not stop there. After head coach Simon Middleton rotated his side for the final World Cup pool game against South Africa, she took her chance.

Displaying all the carrying ability she can offer, she was player of the match in that game and Middleton decided to rework his backline to get her in for the quarter-final.

Helena Rowland relinquished the 12 shirt and and moved to full-back to make way for Heard – and that is how things stay for the semi-final at Eden Park.

Being thrown in late in a World Cup is a high-pressure situation, but another of Heard’s career twists and turns has prepared her for that.

Once the supermarket job became too repetitive, she took up supply work in a secondary school.

Earning your eighth cap in a World Cup semi-final is something, but is it as nerve-wracking as teaching Spanish to a room full of teenagers when you have never spoken a word of the language in your life?

“I could be giving a science lesson, maths, English, anything really,” Heard explains.

“It was funny because sometimes you’d be given a Powerpoint and told to deliver it. At times, the kids would ask ‘Have I got this right?’ and I was there Googling because I wasn’t sure. It was pretty difficult.”

Quiet off the pitch, rampant on it

Overall, Heard says she was “pretty chilled” about teaching topics she did not know much about, but the most stressful aspect was speaking in front of a class.

Around England camp, she is known as one of the more reserved members of the squad.

Often found with a book in hand, Heard will take herself away to sit and read quietly rather than sit with a large group.

“They give us loads of down time so I make sure I spend a couple of hours a day on my own doing what I want to do,” says Heard, who is currently reading Bounce, a non-fiction book exploring the secrets to sporting success.

“Otherwise it would be very consuming. It’s important that people have time to do what makes them feel their best.”

Anyone who saw Heard run through South Africa and Australia will know she is not so quiet on a rugby pitch.

“On a game day, I’m a bit different,” she says. “I am really excited and I want to be around the team.

“Some days I go in really calm and some days I’m a bit more nervous. I guess we’ll see what comes this week.

“I had my doubts as to whether I would be here at all. To get to this point is really exciting.”