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Elinor Snowsill: 'There were so many times when I thought, I don't know if I can carry on'.

By Owain Jones
CARDIFF, WALES - NOVEMBER 30: Elinor Snowsill of Wales in action during the International friendly match between Wales and Barbarians at the Principality Stadium on November 30, 2019 in Cardiff, Wales. (Photo by Athena Pictures/Getty Images)

There were countless times when Elinor Snowsill, Wales’ veteran fly-half, felt like packing it all in. In the colds of winter, she’d raise her eyes to the heavens and grit her teeth, or out of view, shed a tear, as the demands of playing at a professional standard with amateur-level support constantly sapped her will.

Now, however, at her fourth World Cup, Snowsill has seen a sea change in the game in a short period, and at 33, can afford a wry smile, seeing girls a decade younger with professional contracts looking to a brighter future, where juggling multiple jobs isn’t a necessity, but a choice.

On Sunday in Whangerei, the Welsh squad will play in the defining pool Group stage against Scotland. The result will likely determine whether either side progresses into the knock-out stages, with hosts New Zealand and a rapidly improving Australia side jostling for ascendency in the same group. Snowsill, who will orchestrate Wales’ improving backline, needs few reminders of how important that opening encounter is. “Everything is riding on that first game against Scotland. All our preparation is geared towards Sunday and it is a must-win game. We have to make sure we’re in the right frame of mind.”

As a psychology graduate from Loughborough University, Snowsill knows mental preparation is just as important as the physical demands asked of them over the last few months. She knows team sport is ultimately about relationships and managing people. “When I tell people what I studied, they’ll say, ‘oh, so you can read minds?’, but it’s not that, it’s making you aware of that interpersonal communication and relationships. The best coaches are the ones who understand people and make them feel safe and secure.”

With a few years left of her career, Snowsill will, in time, look to utilise her education, and has her sights on moving into coaching. “Coaching appeals to me 100 per cent. Ever since I was a 20 or 21-year-old, I’d always have two heads; one for playing, and the other thinking, ‘when I’m a coach, I’m going to do this or not going to do that’. At every juncture, I’ve tried to pick up as much as I can. I’d love to be a performance coach further down the line.”

With a creditable Six Nations, where they registered wins over Scotland and Ireland, an instant upturn in performances, weeks after the first professional contracts were confirmed, Snowsill has been impressed with Ioan Cunningham’s impact on the squad. “I love working with Ioan (Cunningham), he’s a real people person. He knows how to manage people and get the best out of them. As a personality, he’s calm but he also demands and expects high standards. That’s what you want as a player.”

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Elinor Snowsill
Snowsill is hoping to get Wales’ World Cup off to a winning start against Scotland on Sunday (Photo by Bradley Collyer/Getty Images)

The Wales Women can look forward to a bright future, and yet Snowsill still has the mental scars from a career played pretty much exclusively as an amateur. “There have been some huge changes. Everything, in terms of the support at training, the standards, the levels of physicality in the game, has changed irrevocably in the last decade and a half. It’s a world apart from when I started.”

At her first World Cup in 2010 World Cup, Snowsill was still in university and would drive hours to be back for Wednesday night training and draining weekend camps. “We’d train until late Sunday afternoon and then head back into uni exhausted – some were even travelling from Scotland. Contact training was limited and it was not easy to compete.”

The difference, when compared with 2022, is marked. Having stepped down from her role with the charity School of Hard Knocks, to go full-time, Snowsill is finally acting out the career she never thought she’d have. “Now and we’re in four days a week, 8-4pm and we have loads of support. Our nutritionist lays on the food. We get supplements and access to a superb analysis department. We’re also getting a lot more support from the media and the public.”

You do it because you don’t know any different and there is no other option. You do it for the love and the honour of representing your country. You do it because want to be the best you can be.

Snowsill delivers this uplifting update with a beaming smile and a small sense of wonder. The wonder that full professionalism may never have happened in her playing career. “There were so many times when I thought, I just don’t know if I can carry on. Multiple times when I was going to give it all up. After the 2010 World Cup, I was going to pack it in because I was being played at full-back, when I wanted to be a No 10. Later down the line, I had times I just couldn’t juggle everything. It was taking a toll on me mentally and physically, juggling two careers.”

Despite the doubts, drudgery and hardship, Snowsill kept going. She kept plugging away for brighter days ahead. “You do it because you don’t know any different and there is no other option. You play internationally for free. You do it for the love and the honour of representing your country. You do it because want to be the best you can be, and because there’s always that nagging thought at the back of your mind that says, ‘what if it gets better?’ Saying that, without the support of my mum and dad, I’m not sure I’d have carried on. I owe them everything.”

Elinor Snowsill
Snowsill celebrates a rare win over World Cup favourites England in 2015 (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Bright and articulate, Snowsill is an intelligent advocate for the growth of the women’s game, and she hopes the World Cup will be a springboard to further visibility in what is a crowded sporting landscape, with England’s footballers setting a high bar. “The win by the Lionnesses was absolutely phenomenal. Everyone got caught up in the hype of it. To me, it wasn’t women’s football, or international football, it was just football. One of my old school friends was moaning that she couldn’t get away from it, that it was ‘typical England…that’s all she ever sees on the box’. The differentiator was that she wasn’t moaning because it was women, she was moaning as if it was the men’s game. That’s the shift in perspective we’re witnessing. People are treating it as sport and not ‘it’s women’s sport, so therefore second-best’.

Snowsill says the organisers took a bold but groundbreaking step by taking out the ‘Women’ from the World Cup. “It’s all in the language. The fact they’ve said it’s the World Cup and not the Women’s World Cup is a huge step forward because when people see the TV listings and ‘Rugby World Cup’. People who aren’t massively into rugby and just want to watch a bit of sport will put it on and realise it’s women. Of course, some will switch over, but some will get hooked and all of a sudden you’ve got new fans. It’s important we don’t just try and emulate the men because there is stuff about men’s sport where they have made missteps. We should consciously take the path we want to go, not follow others.”

I love my life at the Bears. Since we moved into the high-performance centre, I’ve seen a huge shift in us being accepted into the environment. There is real parity between the men and the women.

The hype around the tournament has already gone up a notch compared to 2017, with high-profile players fronting their own podcasts, commentating and registering top billing in media circles. “I think girls like Scaz and Nolli deserve everything they get. They’ve been at the elite end of the game for so long. Rugby needs exposure and we 100 per cent need to sell the personalities of the game more. In the women’s game we have doctors, physios, military personnel, teachers and mothers – people who have had so many life experiences. That appeals to sports-mad audiences.”

Elinor Snowsill
Snowsill says the Bristol Bears set-up is one of the best in the world (Photo by Bob Bradford/ Getty Images)

Now happily ensconced in the progressive Bristol Bears set-up, one imagines Snowsill hanging out with ballers Ellis Genge, Semi Radradra and Charles Piutau on a regular basis, and refreshingly, it’s not too wide of the mark. “I love my life at the Bears. Since we moved into the high-performance centre, I’ve seen a huge shift in us being accepted into the environment. There is real parity between the men and the women. Whatever they get, we get, in terms of food, facilities, training in the same gym and on the pitches. For example, if I ask to have an extra kicking session, I can pitch up and kick with Harry Randall. As internationals, we are invited into any men’s meetings. There are no barriers. There’s no, ‘you have to train on the inferior pitch next door’. As a female programme, it’s one of, if not the best in the world in terms of full 360 support.”

Snowsill, whose parents live in Radyr, is a Welsh-speaker, and was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Plasmawr in Cardiff, is proud to wear the three feathers and appreciative of the camaraderie and support shown by the senior Welsh men’s internationals. “Because of the calendar, there isn’t that much crossover at the Six Nations or World Cup, but before we flew out, I saw Dan Biggar while we were training and had a good chat. Earlier in the year, Alun Wyn Jones came in to speak to us when we first got our contracts to chat about what to expect and how things might change for us. Having the backing of the Welsh boys makes a huge difference.”

You see in New Zealand, Dan Carter in kicking with the Black Ferns, and there’s other big names vocally supporting their women’s team on social media. We need those advocates in the game.

The 66-cap 10 insists she has no issue with using the massive platform afforded by the men to grow the women’s game. “You see in New Zealand, Dan Carter in kicking with the Black Ferns, and there’s other big names vocally supporting their women’s team on social media. Some will say we don’t need validation, but in my opinion, if their platforms raise awareness or convert just 10 per cent of their audience then it makes a difference. Superstars like Brian O’Driscoll have a million followers. We need those advocates in the game.”

What Snowsill now hopes, is to be able to shepherd the next generation of Welsh players around the park, and she says there are a few players set to thrive on the grandest stage. “We have some great young girls coming through. In our front row we have Gwenllian Pyrs. She’s been on fire in pre-season and been pivotal to our set-piece, and I think we’ll see a lot more around the park from her. In the back row, Alisha Butcher has been outstanding all season while Alex Callender has been putting her hand up playing her career-best rugby. In the backline Niamh Terry is such a natural and she looks like she has time on the ball. I’m expecting big things.”

The Welsh public will be glued to their TVs on Sunday, urging Snowsill and the squad, to etch their own names in rugby folklore. The far-fetched dream is becoming a reality.

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Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

30 Go to comments
A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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