This year has been a big year for me and my rugby career. In January I left Maine to attend the Rhino's Rugby Academy in San Clemente, California. What was supposed to be a 7 week trip turned into a 3 month trip when I had the opportunity to go to South Africa for the month of March to play in the Rhino's 10s Tournament. Once I returned home, it was straight into the WPL season playing for Beantown. That season went all the way until mid August (I was commuting from Maine, a 2 hour drive both ways, the whole time). In the middle of July, before a 6am double session, I read the email saying I earned a spot in the official USA 15s player pool. I cried. All that work, all the time away from home, the brutal extra conditioning sessions, the hours of skill work on my own. It was the first real confirmation that I was on the right path. One step closer to the ultimate goal of becoming an Eagle.
Fast forward to the end of September. I had taken a month and a half off from any structured group/team training to give my mind and body a break, but it was time to get to work again. The new Women's Elite Rugby league isn't slated to start until early/mid February, and that's if I get selected to a team in the draft. I needed to put myself in another position similar to Rhinos where I could train and play with a team that would challenge me and help me grow even more as a player. I wanted to finish the year out strong and have more minutes under my belt before the potential WER season.
Enter England. At the international level, England is one of the best teams in the world. The country also is home to the Premier Women's Rugby league, one of the only paid professional leagues in the world and filled with international players. I didn't qualify to play in that league, but I did qualify to play in the league directly below it. The Champ 1. In this league, teams are affiliated with PWR teams, meaning some of the players have played in the PWR and been capped for their country. That's who I would be competing against. I looked up the top 4 teams in the league and sent my highlights to all of them, Richmond was the only team to respond. I hoped on a call with the coach, he gassed me up enough to convinve me that Richmond is where I needed to be. I booked my flight later that day. I didn't even have a place to stay yet but I knew I would figure it out and more importantly I knew that's where I needed to be.
I flew out of Boston on October 27 and wouldn't return home until December 15. 7 weeks in a foreign country, not knowing anyone, not knowing what the level of play was like, not knowing if I would even be good enough to earn a roster spot... Scary stuff! I've given a lot of background, let's get into my time abroad.
First of all, no one knew I was coming other than the coach! I show up to practice that first Tuesday and everyone was so curious and confused as to who I was and why I was there. I just laughed because it's such a universal club rugby admin experience. Since they were in the full swing of their season, practices were really geared towards game management, set piece, and the occassional soft skills. So that first practice I was fully immersed into their play calls and systems. It was a lot to take in but it wasn't much different than Beatown. I was quickly making connections in my brain and understanding what the attack was trying to achieve and was able to put myself in positions to contribute. Thursday wasn't much different and I was feeling more confident every rep.
I didn't play that first weekend but they held an extra session for the development side (2XV) that I participated in before watching the 1XV. It honestly was a lot of fun and a good opportunity to see Richmond in action and see where I would fit in their system. Week 2 the 1XV had a bye and the 2XV had a game where I started at 13. At this point I was feeling really confident and free in my style of play. I was doing things I don't normally do, trying new skills. I felt like a whole different player because there were no expectations. When you go to a new team, a place where no one knows you, there's no pressure. You can do things you wouldn't normally do for fear of judgement or consequences from your coach or teammates. At least that's how I felt and like I said, it was freeing and fun. We won the game and I felt strong going into week 3.
The 1XV were gearing up for one of the bigget games of their season and it was exciting that I was going to be apart of it. I was taking reps at 13 and was expecting to come on as a finisher, but instead I started at 13. This was also the same week that Zoe came and visted, so I was on a high. Zoe and I spent two days in London and it was definitely the highlight of my trip. After spending so much time away, having her there just made me so happy. And I'm happy that she was able to explore a different country! Game day came and the nerves started to kick in. The energy felt off from everyone and it was infectious. The ref was trash and we did not adjust. It was not my best performance or the teams best performance. The only bright side I took from is was that when I did get the ball or a chance to make a tackle on defense, I executed. We ended up loosing by like 2 points.
So we lose the game and Zoe leaves the next day. I'm about half way through my trip and I started falling into a funk. If you've never been to England, it's wet and gray 90% of the time. This plus being alone wasn't the best for my brain and mood. I really started to struggle with my motivation and desire to train. I brought 3 rugby balls with me on this trip with the intention of training 2 days with the team and 2 days on my own. The first 3 weeks I did but that 4th week was brutal. A big storm came in so training outside wasn't even really an option for a productive session. Our game got canceled because of the storm and that got in my head because it was one less opportunity for me to play. I was in rough shape.
5th week was a little better. I forced myself to get out of the house more, got my extra sessions in, and we actually had a game. I came off the bench and immediately made an impact. Made a big tackle off a set piece scrum, intercepted a pass, made a try saving tackle, and we ended up winning by scoring a try with no time left to take the top of the league. That was a big moment for me and Richmond.
Week 6 was a bye week for the 1XV and the poor 2XV had their game canceled because the other team pulled out. Another kick in the shins and lost opportunity to play. At this point I was ready to come home. Fun fact: most women's and girls club teams play their games on Sundays in England. I didn't know that when I booked my ticket, so I was going to miss their last game of 2024. So when I learned that the 2XV game got canceled, I was gutted because I was running out of time to play. I was still giving it my all at team training, in the gym, and working on individual skills. I knew that I needed to force myself to be proactive if I wanted this trip to be productive. That brings us to week 7. In another turn of events, a very spontaneous friendly with a team in a different league was arranged for the 2XV for the Saturday before I left. I could play one more game! A roller coaster of emotions this trip was.
The game was so chaotic and so much fun. Richmond didn't have enough player so the other team gave us 4 and we ended up playing 12v12. Instead of 2x40min halves, we played 3x20min periods. The perfect scenario to just send it and play like there's no stakes, because there were none! The sun was shining and I ended up scoring twice, making some major tackles, and had a few open field break aways. All in all, it was a great way to end my trip.
Let's wrap this up. Was the trip worth it? Absolutely. It was another confirmation that I can compete at a very competitive level of rugby. After the Rhinos program, I think that's what I was searching for this year. I was looking for that pat on the back, for someone to say "Jenni, you are an exceptional rugby player that has a real shot of competing at the national level". Maybe even for myself to come to that conclusion, and I have. I feel the most confident I ever have in my rugby ability and future in the sport. I'm glad to have gone on this adventure, but if I'm being honest I'm glad to be home, and don't plan on leaving the country for a while.
Comments