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'This was my first time receiving player of the match…it was a really special feeling'
Can you believe we are into Fallow Week of the Six Nations already? The Easter bunny has been and gone and the Red Roses are back at Pennyhill Park for another three days of training.
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Last Saturday we took a trip down to the West Country to play in the second round of the Women’s Six Nations at Ashton Gate, the home of Bristol Bears. We were going head to head with the Welsh, who are renowned for their aggression, passion and pride.
Like any test week, we spent a lot of time prepping for the game. One thing we really emphasised was focusing on us. When it comes to big games it’s really easy to shift your attention onto the other team, but we wanted to ensure we were in the best place to execute our game plan.
Come the weekend, I started to feel a bit apprehensive about playing. You start to question yourself – am I ready, am I going to be fit enough, have I eaten/drank enough?
It was in the warm-up when I started moving around where those nerves started to diminish. I always try to find my family in the crowd (easy when your dad wants to get to the game an hour before kick-off!) so that I can look at them when singing the anthem.
That is a feeling that will never get old, it’s so special. When the first whistle was blown, those nerves disappeared. Your mind shifts to the game – getting off the line in defence, carrying hard in attack and for me, being a nuisance in the line out.
And I think I did just that.. we managed to disrupt multiple lineouts, stopped their maul at source and put 46 points on them. It was a good day at the office for the forward pack. However, what made it even better was the 19,705 fans that filled the stadium. The eruption of the crowd when Abby Dow made her break down the wing was mesmerising. It made me envision what Twickenham Stadium could be like in 2025 with 80,000 spectators filling the home of England Rugby.
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It was a few minutes before the end of the game and we were waiting for Wales at a line out when I heard ‘Your player of the match is Rosie Galligan’. This was my first time receiving player of the match so I didn’t really know what to do.
Connie Powell turned around to me and said ‘There’s your boost of energy Rosie, keep going’ and I gave her a quick smile before getting back to business. It was a really special feeling. I’m not a standout player in terms of doing anything fancy, but I felt I did my role well, played a part in high-pressure moments and helped create opportunities. In the words of Saracens, we call it ‘the sh*t people don’t see – TSPDS.
Sunday was a very slow day. Having only played 40 minutes against Bristol for Saracens in the last 7 weeks, I definitely felt a bit worse for wear. I spent easter Monday chilling in the garden and sorting the house out before heading back into camp on Tuesday.
Heading into the gym I was still a bit sore, but it was good to get moving again. We are on a gym regeneration week, so it’s not about going for PBs on lifts, it’s about keeping ticking over and getting some volume-based exercises in. In terms of training, we don’t reduce our work rate and intensity of what we do things.
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John Mitchell lives by the saying ‘When we’re on, we’re on, when we’re off, we’re off’. The ‘off’ button came on Tuesday evening when we had a darts social.
All staff and players had personalised t-shirts with their darts name on and we had a knock-out tournament in our mini teams. There were some hilarious darts names – some which cannot be mentioned due to not being PG!
Mitch was wearing an orange mohawk and had a pillow stuffed up his top – he took his role extremely seriously… A big congratulations goes out to Sadia Kabeya and Tatyana Heard for winning the Red Roses Darts Night!
The next couple of weeks are about building. We want to continue to build into Scotland, then into Ireland and reach our peak for the final game in France which is always a huge contest. We have laid ourselves a really promising platform, so now it’s about fine-tuning the detail and building our confidence further.
As tournament favourites, I think that there is a bit of pressure on us as a squad. A lot of people think that we aren’t playing well if we don’t put lots of points down in the first 20 minutes. But actually, what we have to realise is that because of who we are, people want to come for us.
These teams are coming out and putting their all into that opening quarter so it’s about riding that wave and being patient. We don’t necessarily stress if we don’t have those big scores in the first half because we pride ourselves on being that 80-minute team and making sure we see the game out.
We believe in our processes and believe in the coaching staff/players to get the job done. Roll on Scotland!
Comments on RugbyPass
I get that Ben's role is to attract SA readers with controversial clickbait, but what about respecting the rivalry of over 100 years? The Boks won, we lost. The Boks have now won 4 world cups since their inclusion back into international rugby, and in that time the rest of the world combined have only won 4! It's an incredible achievement. Show respect, and then hope we win 2-0 in SA later this year. But don't be a whiner; it means you don't understand the rivalry at its essence. Winner takes all when NZ plays SA. Sport in it's purest form. Long may it continue.
16 Go to commentsU Nz never ever use to be such a bunch off whining girls,now this so sad that u got this aasss writing some crap
16 Go to commentsBeautifully written.
5 Go to commentsYou can be a dominating team and still lose. The Boks know that if the ABs are a man down, they play as if they have another two players on the field. The ABs did attack, they did apply pressure, they built more plays but they did not add more points to the board. The ABs are still the most dominant team in sports today as the ABs will go for a win in every game they play. Rassie and Jacques have used the time between World Cups to build squad depth. They were also the last tier 1 nation to start playing rugby after COVID restrictions were eased and still won the series against The B&I Lions. Ben may write to persuade the reader that the Boks are not worthy of the trophy or worthy to be the best in the world but Ben, since you enjoy stats so much, you forgot the most important statistic….the score! That's the one that matters most.
16 Go to commentsNot a fan of Penney to be fair as I don’t see him able to perform at SR level. However he has stepped into a bit of a mess with so many long service players leaving. No matter how good a coach us he can’t wave a magic wind and turn young pups into Crusaders in 5 mins. Wheaven to accept this is a complete rebuild of players and culture. Have some patience just as the other teams have had in years gone by
29 Go to commentsWhat is Ben’s point exactly? Cause if it’s that the ABs should’ve won that game, then yes I think every AB fan would agree with that. But the DIDN'T. You need luck to go your way and it went the Springboks way, just as it went the ABs way in 2011. Given that this article is written 6 months after the final shows that Ben is still incredibly butthurt. Time to move on Mr Smith. Maybe join something that suits your bias… i’m thinking the Australian commentary panel?
16 Go to commentsSA players and fans calling the irish arrogant, ooh the irony!!
80 Go to commentsPersonally i’d have BB off the bench and DMac as 10. BB seems to have more ‘average’ games and less ability to mix it up on the fly than DMac,
7 Go to commentsBen’s Myth History is written by the guy who does the engraving on the trophy. Took Ben six months to write this piece.
16 Go to commentsThis article should have been written immediately after the final, not half a year later. While the content of the article is accurate with the references to the cruel bounce to Savea right before the try line, Etzebeth’s cynical infringement, and the inconsistent cards, some of the hyperbole emotional statements are unnecessary and gaslighting. The fact remains that the Springboks took their scoring opportunities. They had amazing defence throughout the entire match (limiting the ABs to one try is very respectable), their scrum was pretty good and they had quite a solid lineout despite having a part-time hooker throwing the ball in. Let’s give credit where credit is due and move forward. The Springboks won because they know how to win big games through strong defence and kicking, and they had lady luck on their side on the day. The All Blacks miraculously made the final despite everyone’s predictions and could’ve won the whole damn thing with 14 men who should’ve taken better advantage of their scoring chances and committed less mistakes (shoddy lineouts, dropped balls, some poor kicks and passing, etc), and an average coach and captain with some questionable tactics (Jordie kicking for goal late in the game from a dodgy position and perhaps the wrong game plan overall). Time to move on.
16 Go to commentsThere’s no doubt the All Blacks were the better team on the day, but it’s not enough to be better, you also have to have luck.
16 Go to commentsI dunno, Ben. It does feel a little like you are just in denial that the Springboks are really good. Good enough to win two straight world cups.
16 Go to commentsAre we still talking about the World Cup final in May? The final took place more than 6 months ago. Isn’t it time to move on?
16 Go to commentsIt looks like the trauma counseling is not helping the Ben Smith troll much. He is still trying to convince his little brain that his loser team won the RWC.
16 Go to commentsOh dear, Jon. Ben Smith’s Saffer clickbait was at least backed up by some rationale!
16 Go to commentsThe more direct approach to your past time this time I see Ben. Look, it doesn’t need to be said, anyone watching the match knows the ABs played better and just got robbed by the officiating, but lets face it, their dominance in the match was only because South Africa choked and forgot how to play rugby with the ball. South Africa were still the better side. Of course Ireland and France were also better sides that New Zealand. Possibly even England on WC performances.
16 Go to commentsGreat mythology - no surprises Ox didn't talk about being driven backwards by Laulala in the RWC final!
5 Go to commentsJust shows how a hand up can help as long as the invitation is accepted. Good story.
1 Go to commentsKarma is a powerful force
22 Go to commentsFrench players said the same thing to the All Blacks after their pool match in 2011. But the French can back up their s**t talk with action.
80 Go to comments