Styling it up in Sunderland
Exeter has been a bit of a home for me for the last few years, playing with the Chiefs (in Premiership Women’s Rugby – the top-level club competition in England), but I've not been quite this far up north. It's beautiful. Our hotel is lovely, looking out the window at all the bridges and the water in the city, it's absolutely gorgeous.
You can already feel the energy building. There was a bunch of these women singing (when the USA squad arrived in the city via coach), and we just joined in singing with them. It's a good thing we're rugby players, I would say! But whatever we do we do with a lot of heart and passion.
It's cool to see how the Women's World Cup has progressed, this being my fourth one. From 2014 and 2017 to the last World Cup (2021) there was a huge jump. But from the last one to this one there has just been so much progress.
Match-week schedule
Monday will be our hardest day. We call it ‘Combat Day’. It’ll be three sessions total.
I love Combat Day. I'm, you know, a prop, and I like physicality… A lot of the skill blocks will be focused on contact and then we always do team opposed at the end of training, full contact.
That’s the bulk of our hard work. Then we get a recovery day. Treatments, pool, downtime. Being together so long and at a World Cup, there’s a lot of mental stress. So, it’s a day that we have a bit more autonomy to choose what we want to do; if you want to go grab a coffee, if you want to take a little walk, if you want to lie in bed and watch TV. It's kind of your day to recharge.
There is an expectation on recovery. We do recovery points and make it a bit of a competition amongst the many (internal) teams that we have on tour.
Then we go into what we call a ‘fast day’, where we're doing everything, but the focus is speed and execution. By then it's expected that you know exactly what you're doing, and you're able to execute it, to build the confidence going into the Captain's Run (a short, non-contact session on the match pitch, the day before kick-off).
Fuelling up
I've actually been told to eat a bit more. I'm the fittest and strongest I've been for any rugby tournament, let alone a World Cup and my S&C (strength and conditioning coach) is telling me ‘You need to eat a bit more, you’re still a prop’.
It’s great news. It’s high protein, especially post training. And then as a young athlete you can often shy away from carbs, because there’s mixed media about them, but they’re so important for recovery and fuelling. Obviously having veggies too and, you know, a little treat here and there isn't it terrible either. For me, a cookie or a cinnamon roll.
Mental prep
I just try to stay present as much as possible and take confidence in what I know I can do and in what I have done.
At times, I can get caught up in thinking about the game and the pressure of wanting to perform and do well and show who you are and what you can do and to be the best that you can be for your team. But, I always try to bring myself back to the present moment, because you can kind of get lost in thoughts of what ifs.
We've had a lot of later kick-offs. So, I think we have a lot of experience with how you manage that in terms of food, especially for someone like myself, who struggles to eat on a game day because of nerves. It’s all about how you still get the fuel in, when you want to sleep and when to have caffeine.
It’s finally here…
I am beyond excited. I love being on this team.
Everything you do is to make it to the highest you can in your sport and the highest in rugby 15s is the World Cup. And then to be here with some of your favourite people, people that you've made connections with, and that you’ve been through all the highs with, all the lows with.
It's moments like this that you'll never get back, and you'll always remember.
