Sarah Rendell takes a weekly look at some important women players
THIS WEEK…
DMP DURHAM SHARKS SCRUM-HALF
DMP Durham Sharks' Georgina Thomas-Roberts' rugby career began after missing a plane which would have taken her to represent Great Britain in skeleton bobsleigh.
The scrum-half took up the winter sport while at Bath University studying natural sciences. A teammate on the bobsleigh team was a rugby coach at the uni and told Thomas-Roberts to try out the sport and she hasn't looked back since.
The 37-year-old, who also has a masters degree in forensic science, says: “I was playing a lot of other sports. I played volleyball and I did athletics. The skeleton bobsleigh was just something I started at uni. Once I started rugby I thought this is the one I'm going to pursue. I figured out I was quite good at it pretty quickly.”
The star, who is currently working on a medication for Covid, is currently out with a foot/leg injury which she sustained in December. Being on the sidelines is frustrating for Thomas-Roberts but even more so as she is agonisingly close to 50 Premier 15s appearances. The next time the captain features in a match she will hit the milestone.
“I didn't know that until the last game I played when I was told I was nearing the number,” she adds. “It's really exciting. It's frustrating I haven't got there yet but hopefully I will do this season. It's a massive milestone. It feels like a long time coming. It's been four and half seasons since Premier 15s began and if I do get there I'll be over the moon.”
DMP released a statement after their defeat to Saracens earlier this month asking fans to stop sending the club abuse for their run of results. The club are yet to win a game this season but Thomas-Roberts, who has played for England, suggests that is down to “amateurs playing professionals”.
“It's definitely part of the reason. The ability of players to only focus on rugby [makes a difference],” she says. “It's amateurs competing against professionals to a certain extent which will cause a bit of a gap.
“There's no quick fix or we would have been turning those results around already. I try to focus on getting the girls to concentrate on what they can control and making improve- ments day on day. We accept we don't have the same support structure that some of the teams in the league have and we are managing full-time jobs.
“We are all good rugby players. We want to play the best rugby we can and the things that are in our sphere of influence that's what we focus on otherwise you can get lost.”
