England’s top women’s rugby star, Danielle Waterman, hosting a pop-up training event at the Twickenham Stoop aimed at getting more girls into rugby.
Thirty eager 11-12 year olds were put through their paces by Danielle Waterman, a member of the England team who won the IRB Women’s Rugby World Cup last year.
Despite having her knee in a brace for an injury that ruled her out of this year’s Women’s Six Nations Tournament, Waterman was not short on energy or enthusiasm as she put the girls through some key rugby drills. The girls, who are pupils at Grey Court School in Ham and St Richard Reynolds Catholic College in Twickenham, were able to talk to the rugby star about her own entry into the sport.
Joining her brothers at the local rugby club in Minehead, Waterman started playing at the age of four. She played on the boys team: ‘I had to wash my knees in the toilet sink afterwards as there was no female changing room,’ she told the girls. ‘I used to hear people shouting ‘Get her, she’s just a girl!’ It just made me train harder. I showed them.’
After the age of 12, when she could no longer play in the boys' squad and there were no female teams nearby, she focused on other sports – netball, gymnastics and athletics.
‘I didn’t realise at the time but those sports gave me the footwork skills that helped me achieve so much in rugby. My advice is don’t give up: choose your attitude and keep going.’
After playing for the South West regional U16s squad, at the age of 15 Danielle was propelled into senior rugby by being selected in to the England Senior Academy followed by the England A squad. She went on to receive her first international cap at the age of 18 and became England’s youngest ever capped player.
Women’s rugby continues to grow: last year 15,000 girls played; this year there are 18,000 RFU registered female rugby players. The aim of the RFU is to increase numbers to 25,000 by 2017.
For the girls there’s plenty to inspire them locally with Richmond Women, one of the oldest and most successful premiership teams, on the doorstep. The event was organised by Caxton, a foreign exchange firm that supports young female sports stars through the Caxton All Stars sponsorship programme.
