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Six Nations column: Victory in Ireland and family ties
Family has been a strong part of this year’s Six Nations, both personally and from a team perspective. In Fallow Week, we had family week. That was a really nice experience and something that was new to us all as we hadn’t really done that before.
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We had all of the parents or other special people in our lives lined up on the bank at Pennyhill Park to watch us train, and then we had food afterwards. It was a really nice occasion to show our families what we do, how we train, and then be able to celebrate together, which was really lovely.
That put us in a really good place, it gave us a bit of a boost, and happy endorphins, which meant we went into Ireland week feeling refreshed from the Fallow Week.
My granddad is Irish and has a house in Cork. As soon as it got announced that we were going to be playing in Cork, my grandad had cousins and aunties and uncles on the phone saying that they’re going to be getting tickets.
I think there were about 12 of them at the game with their children, whom I’d never met before, because I haven’t been to Ireland to see them for over 15 years. It was really nice to see my extended family and my dad’s side, whom I don’t really see very often. To know that they’re behind me, regardless of whether I’m English, that they’re still supporting me, is amazing!
It just shows the impact that rugby is having on TV, and it’s going across the country and the world. It’s allowing people to reconnect with family in different areas, or even just connect with different fans from different areas. York introduced us to a completely different northern crowd, which was brilliant.
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We had a good training week ahead of Ireland. We knew what they were going to bring, and with the press and everything that was going on, we knew that they were going to come out all guns blazing. They’re also in a stage where they’ve had new coaches for the last couple of years, and they’re really starting to grow.
They put on a massive performance for the first 30 minutes. We weren’t too worried about it. In the past, we’ve been so used to winning in the first half, but actually the game has changed now, and it’s made it more exciting that we know we’re not going to run away with it in the first half.
We know we’ve got to put out a full 80-minute performance in order to get the win. For us, it’s a bit of a change in mentality in the sense that we know that teams are getting better, we can’t beat ourselves up if we’re not winning in the first half.
We were really level-headed after that first half; we can’t expect to win everything straight away. We’ve got to start breaking teams down more again. Canada at WXV last year probably was that first time recently where we had to have that change in mentality and know we had to be in a fight.
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When it comes down to it, we’re all individuals who work hard and will do anything to win. It’s about maintaining what we know and trusting in the process, and not getting bored with doing the basics well.
We know how hard we train and how well we can do it, so if we keep doing what we’re doing we’ll get the result in the end. We train at such high intensity, higher than a match would be, in a Test week, so we know we’ve got the fitness and capability to do it, it’s just how we get it across on the pitch on the day.
We’ve played in front of some big crowds so far this tournament, it’s been amazing and so good to see. It’s something that really should be celebrated. Ireland always put on a great show and for me, with my Irish relatives there, to be able to go to Ireland and see them sing the anthem and enjoy both watching me play for England but also watching Ireland and having all of those fans there; it was a really good day.
It’s nice to see so many people backing the sport now, it’s being seen as a product that is good to watch and something that people want to get out and see.
As a rugby player, we all know how big social media has become to try and be able to grow yourself as a brand and get your name out there. The backlash from Sarah Bern and Jasmine Joyce’s post-match TikTok at the Wales match came from people who wanted to find something to say.
Like Jas and Berner said, when you’re on the pitch for 80 minutes, you’re in battle, you’ll do anything to win, but as soon as you’re off the pitch, the game is done, you’re back to being friends again.
They’re teammates at Bristol and as Jas said, it was such a good occasion at the Principality away from the score, why would she dwell on the result for too long when actually they’re in a re-build phase and I’m sure [Sean] Lynny would have been behind her as well with celebrating how good the day was for women’s rugby.
When you’re in a professional environment, it can really bog you down. You want to maintain who you are as an individual, and something that we’re massive drivers of is not losing your individuality and not just becoming ‘another England player’; you want to be yourself.
That’s what the girls are doing at the moment with things like TikTok, and it’s also what John Mitchell is doing by often getting involved in the TikToks. He is that kind of person; when he’s in rugby and when he’s on, he’s on, but when he’s off, he can have a good time. That side of him really shines out and shows us as players that we can also be ourselves and we can have fun off the pitch, but as soon as we’re on, that’s when it matters.
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And we do like to have fun away from the pitch while we’re in camp! Last week, after a tough training session, we had a karaoke night, which was sponsored by LG. We got a big speaker and microphones, and it was a really fun night; a few of the staff sang as well as the players, and it was something completely different that we had a lot of fun with.
Hannah Botterman did a great Whitney Houston rendition to finish the night! Last night we had a meal in, we had Giggling Squid, and we sat in and had a takeaway together, which was really nice.
Looking ahead to facing Scotland this weekend, we’ve been to Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium a few times before and it’s always a good place to go. The Scots did have a good crowd and they’re a very passionate team, I’m sure they’ll have a few travelling supporters. Being able to go up to the Midlands and again show a different venue and the support that we’ve got in another demographic will be really good.
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