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Perris-Redding: 'The moment I'm hit with a tackle bag I’ll shed a tear of happiness'
By Joe Harvey
“That was the first time I shed a tear, after the second surgery,” said USA Eagle Georgie Perris-Redding. “It took a while, but it did come eventually.”
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Nine months after the initial surgery to repair her right knee, Perris-Redding was told she needed to go under the knife again, only ten weeks ago.
For almost a year the Sale Sharks and USA Women’s Eagles flanker had spent five hours a day trying to get up to full fitness, only for her MCL to reject its synthetic graft.
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It was in the final throes of Sale Sharks’ 27-24 end-of-season PWR win over Bristol Bears last June that the 28-year-old lay on the field at Heywood Road resigned that the pain in her right knee meant a long-term lay-off was coming.
In the end, the 14-cap international was told she had ruptured her ACL, torn her MCL and damaged her meniscus significantly.
To try and get back on the pitch as soon as possible Perris-Redding opted to have her injuries repaired in one surgery in the aim of recovering in time for the 2025 Rugby World Cup in England.
When the Sale captain started to get back moving following a period of post-operative care, there was an increasing feeling that things were not as they should be.
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“I’d already had a feeling that something wasn’t right,” she said. “Little things, like I couldn’t sit in a chair and stand back up without it hurting.
“You know when those things in daily life start to become harder? Then I started to try and run, and your body knows.”
Perris-Redding is now another step closer to full fitness and is currently in camp with the Eagles in San Diego, California.
Being in the mid-spring sunshine of the west coast has not only given her more motivation, but also provided another opportunity to reflect on the past year of her life.
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“This might sound strange,” Perris-Redding wryly smiled, “it happening in the way it did, in the 79th minute of the last game of the season – it was just so unlucky.
“I’ve learned a lot about myself. About me as a rugby player. It’s given me time to work on things that I never had time for before. I’m not going to lie; it’s been really tough. This takes you to a really dark and lonely place. Now I’m back here, I can start to see a bit of light.”
Much of what Perris-Redding has learned was in the cold isolation of her own recovery. Other players came and went from the rehabilitation room at Sharks’ Carrington base, but the flanker was a constant.
That time alone recuperating, combined with the devastation of having to go under the knife a second time, has given the Michigan-born back-row forward plenty of added resolve.
“I play for Sale and the USA,” she said. “We have some really tough games and sometimes we’ve ended up on the wrong side of the scoreline. You have to go to a pretty dark place to be able to keep fighting in some of those scenarios.
“I thought I was quite relentless until I did ten months of rehab. I was like ‘oh, this is rock bottom’.
Since her debut against Canada in 2022 Perris-Redding has been an important figure for the Eagles. Such is her importance, head coach Sione Fukofuka selected her among his 38-player squad for their Spring tour.
“Ten months is a long time (to spend in rehab). I’m really grateful and it’s quite emotional. I’ve been away from this group for a year and when I got back, I felt like I hadn’t been away. The moment I am hit with a tackle bag I’ll shed a tear of happiness, honestly.
“Some people will say I’m crazy, but I just think about playing for this team again,” Perris-Redding said. “The last game I got to play for the USA, I probably had the most fun 80 minutes I’ve had.
“I may only be 5’4” but the contact part is my favourite part of the game. It is crazy because you don’t realise how much of a relief something is for you, a safe place, until it is taken away from you.”
At this moment in time Perris-Redding is not putting a definitive timeline on her return.
Having seen numerous return dates drift further and further back in the calendar, the 28-year-old’s focus is entirely dedicated to recovery and being fit for this year’s Rugby World Cup.
Her teammates have other objectives. This weekend Fukofuka’s team take on Japan in Los Angeles, California.
The clash with the 12th ranked team in the world acts as an aperitif to the Eagles’ opening Pacific Four Series encounter with Canada a week later in Kansas City, Missouri.
Then travelling to the Southern Hemisphere to take on New Zealand and Australia, it will be an instructive period for an Eagles team that have not played since WXV 1 in the autumn.
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Enjoying a promising upturn in form during Fukofuka’s first year in charge, there is a palpable sense that good things can come for a USA team burdened with the responsibility of taking on the Red Roses in the World Cup opener in August.
“When we qualified for the World Cup, I think about that moment. I also think about the World Cup opener. “I love a big game. Yes, we are underdogs, but I do think we can win that game.
“Honestly that is my motivation. I probably should say it’s because I love rugby, but I want to win, and I think this group can do big things. We have massive potential. It keeps me grinding.”
The USA Eagles play Japan on Saturday 26th April. Watch live and for free on the RugbyPass App.
