Ella Cromack: 'Had that not happened I would have barely played'

This time last season Ella Cromack was frustrated with her rugby. Fast forward 12 months and the 20-year-old is in a completely different sphere.

In her rookie season Cromack was ever-present for Harlequins. A year later, as the side ended a three hiatus from knockout rugby, she made just seven appearances in Premiership Women’s Rugby for Ross Chisholm’s team.

It was a dramatic grounding for a player so highly coveted by her club. It took a toll.

Now when you watch Cromack bossing things in the middle of the pitch there is an extra spark. A sign that a tough 12 months is behind her, although not entirely forgotten.

“I can be brutally honest,” Cromack told RugbyPass. “I barely played last year and when I got my moments, I wasn’t the Ella Cromack that I wanted to be known as either.

“I went three or four months without going onto a rugby pitch, playing any games or [getting any] minutes. Obviously we signed Kayleigh Powell, who I have got to learn a lot off, but being pretty selfish; I want to start.

“In my first season at Quins I was lucky to play in every single fixture. It’s almost harder to go from playing every game to not.

“You don’t expect to get a lot of game time in the Prem [aged 18], to have played so much and then get so little last year, it was a bit of a reality check and tough mentally.

“I’d come into 20s camps probably not feeling the most confident I have. I definitely didn’t feel confident in that Quins environment either. That probably reflected in some of the performances.”

The thing that Cromack credits much of her good form this season to is the PWR Cup.

A tournament which ran in the background while the Women’s Rugby World Cup reached its conclusion, Harlequins went all the way to the final with Cromack at the centre of everything for her club.

Cromack and Harlequins had battled all the way to the final only to lose 43–33 to Saracens at StoneX Stadium in the final. Frustrating? Yes. But a solid foundation to build on.

As the league season honed into view it did seem as though the fledgling fly-half was set for another year as a supporting act. All the way until a last minute twist.

“It’s a bit of a funny story actually,” Cromack recalled. “I got called into a meeting with Ross the week after the final. We lost to Sarries and he was like, ‘that’s probably one of the best times I’ve seen you play in a Quins shirt.’

“He then said I was going to play for Surrey [University of Surrey, Harlequins’ university pathway side] that week to get more minutes and it wasn’t going to affect selection for Round 1 against Loughborough.

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“Then I get a call and Ross said I was going to be TR [travelling reserve] and I was going to be fully involved with uni. Then KP [Kayleigh Powell] had to drop out. I was on the bench. I got a good 20 minutes, and it is funny to think, had that not happened I probably would have barely played this year. Everything happens for a reason.”

Red Roses ambitions

Cromack has not been the only Harlequins player to make a big impact this season.

Her housemate Sarah Parry has enjoyed such a dominant season in the midfield that England Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has called the 20-year-old into his Guinness Women’s Six Nations squad for this Spring’s Championship.

“It shows the Roses pathway works,” Cromack said. “She’s [Parry] been through 18s and 20s, now she’s in that environment. Deservedly.

“Selfishly as well, I want to be in that environment too. I want to be in it as soon as I can.”

It is more than fair to say that Cromack and Parry are just as inseparable off the pitch as on it. Because not only have they formed a formidable midfield axis, after training they can be found doing 50 passes off each hand to one another as they both attempt to hone their skillset.

That, along with increased time on the pitch, has allowed Cromack to have even more confidence on the pitch.

The fly-half’s own Red Roses ambitions have been present since she was 10. It has been at the top of her bucket list for literally half of her life.

In PWR she has got to share the field with all the playmakers included in John Mitchell’s squad. Afternoons going toe-to-toe with Zoe Harrison, Holly Aitchison and Helena Rowland have certainly been instructive.

“I’ve really enjoyed being able to go up against the likes of Zoe, Holly and Helena, kind of seeing what they’re adding to their game – but also making sure that I have my basics down,” she said.

“They all bring very different things to the 10 shirt. Holly’s distribution is unmatched in terms of that Roses squad. Zoe has the kicking game. Helena’s ability ball-in-hand and running game.

 

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“They all bring their own individuality, and I want to be just as good as each of those and bring my own flair too.”

Big things around the corner

In the coming weeks Cromack has plenty to look forward to. This weekend as Harlequins travel to Cardiff to play Bristol Bears at the Principality Stadium, she is in line to make her 50th appearance for the West London side.

Over the past couple of weeks Harlequins have found themselves at something of a crossroads. Five losses in a row have seen Sale Sharks usurp them in the top four. Hopes of knockout rugby hang by a thread.

“We had Bears at Big Game [38-12 Harlequins win] as well, so I’m sure they’ll be coming out for revenge knowing that we’re kind of on their turf at the Principality,” Cromack said.

“We’ve just got to take each game as it comes now. Some results that other teams get may affect whether we get top four or now. All we can aim to do is get 10 points out of Bristol and Leicester.”

There is also the small matter of a Test match against Spain’s senior women next week, where Cromack will be pitted against her club teammate Claudia Pena, before the Six Nations Women’s U21 Series kicks into gear.

Across three weekends LJ Lewis’ England U21s will play matches against Scotland, Ireland and France as the new age grade competition has its inaugural season.

As one of 14 players previously capped at age grade level, Cromack has quickly become one of England U21’s senior players and someone that the new faces in the squad are looking to.

It is more responsibility. Something else that the 20-year-old relishes and treasures in equal measure.

“It’s something that I spoke to LJ about win my first year of 20s,” Cromack said. “Fly-half kind of comes with that with the nature of the position. Off the pitch I’m quite an introverted person, so I’m not always the one to speak up. I like to lead by action.

“We have a game-drivers group and I’m involved with that – just trying to drive that forward, keeping individuality, but playing as a team.”