{"id":3238,"date":"2025-10-01T09:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=3238"},"modified":"2025-09-24T12:39:47","modified_gmt":"2025-09-24T12:39:47","slug":"blood-bruises-and-belief-how-englands-womens-rugby-team-embody-physical-and-mental-endurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=3238","title":{"rendered":"Blood, bruises and belief: how England\u2019s women\u2019s rugby team embody physical and mental\u00a0endurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Blood, bruises and belief: how England\u2019s women\u2019s rugby team embody physical and mental\u00a0endurance<\/h1>\n
\n
\n
\n France v England Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup Semi Final 2025.
\n Photo by Alex Davidson – World Rugby\/World Rugby via Getty Images<\/a><\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Helen Owton<\/a>, The Open University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

As women\u2019s sport surges on the global stage, hosts England have lit up the Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup<\/a>. But the tackles, speed and power fans see on the field are only part of the story. What we don\u2019t see is what it takes \u2013 both physically and psychologically \u2013 to wear England\u2019s emblem, the Red Rose.<\/p>\n

The psychology of rugby<\/a> shapes every performance. Behind the scenes lie early mornings, lonely and punishing rehab sessions, playing through pain<\/a>, brutal setbacks, private doubts and personal sacrifices. <\/p>\n

Before the whistle blows and the crowd roars, players stretch aching muscles, re-tape old injuries and mentally lock in. The changing room becomes a crucible \u2013 a place of intense pressure and transformation \u2013 where focus sharpens, rituals are repeated and the \u201cgame face\u201d<\/a> goes on.<\/p>\n

That game face<\/a> is more than a stare. It\u2019s the product of years of physical and psychological battles. It\u2019s the mindset that lets an athlete walk into the arena with purpose and conviction, no matter what pain or setbacks they\u2019ve endured.<\/p>\n

Consider Emily Scarratt, one of England\u2019s most celebrated players. In 2023 a surgeon advised her to retire after a complex neck injury<\/a> threatened her career. Opting for an artificial disc replacement near her windpipe was risky \u2013 any operation that close to the airway and spinal cord carries the danger of nerve damage or breathing complications \u2013 and career-defining because the operation\u2019s success or failure would determine whether she could ever play again.<\/p>\n

Her February 2024 return wasn\u2019t just about regaining fitness. It was also about showing the mental steel that \u201cgame face\u201d represents, blocking out fear and doubt to perform at the sport\u2019s highest level. At 35, she became the first England player to feature in five Rugby World Cups.<\/p>\n

\n<\/figure>\n

Abi Burton\u2019s comeback is equally astonishing. Just three years ago she was diagnosed with autoimmune encephalitis<\/a> \u2013 a rare condition in which the immune system attacks the brain, causing inflammation and severe neurological symptoms \u2013 and placed in a medically induced coma. She woke four weeks later unable to walk, talk, read or write and more than 19 kg lighter. After years of rehabilitation, she made her World Cup debut<\/a> against Samoa in 2025.<\/p>\n

Rosie Galligan\u2019s road back was just as brutal. She nearly lost her legs to meningitis<\/a> in 2019, then fractured an ankle in early 2020, which sidelined her for over a year. Told by medical specialists and coaches more than once that she might never play again, she fought back to the delayed 2022 World Cup and is now a standout player for 2025<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These headline comebacks highlight something the public rarely sees: the daily grind of resilience. Managing concussions and torn ligaments, coping with the psychological toll<\/a> of repeated setbacks; just staying in the game takes an immense toll and can lead to player burnout<\/a> without strong support. Ellie Kildunne, ruled out of the quarter-final with head-injury symptoms<\/a>, has spoken openly about the mental strength needed to survive the toughest moments<\/a>, calling the internal battles \u201cthe hardest to win\u201d.<\/p>\n

\n<\/figure>\n

So, while England may look clinical and composed on the pitch, every performance requires extraordinary emotional and mental strength. And the players are not doing it alone. Behind every recovery and every small gain is a network of coaches, physiotherapists, psychologists, doctors and support staff working to keep the foundations solid.<\/p>\n

None of this happens by accident. It\u2019s the result of years of sustained investment in the women\u2019s game: not just in players, but in the infrastructure around them. Since 2009, nearly \u00a350 million in National Lottery funding<\/a> has gone into girls\u2019 and women\u2019s rugby.<\/p>\n

The Impact 25 legacy programme<\/a> \u2013 World Rugby\u2019s initiative to grow the women\u2019s game before, during and long after the 2025 tournament \u2013 is injecting a further \u00a312 million to expand grassroots pathways: community-level coaching, clubs and player-development routes that help girls progress from school or local teams into elite rugby across England and the home nations.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere the contrast is stark. Teams such as Samoa have had to fundraise<\/a> just to get players on the pitch: a sharp reminder of the global inequalities that persist in women\u2019s sport. While England can rotate two professional squads, other national teams are simply trying to cover basic costs.<\/p>\n

England\u2019s story shows what\u2019s possible when talent is matched with belief and when belief is backed with resources and support. England\u2019s success hasn\u2019t come easy: it\u2019s the product of years of grit, resilience and bold investment. If women\u2019s rugby is to grow globally, England\u2019s blueprint may be a powerful place to start.<\/p>\n

Helen Owton<\/a>, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology, The Open University<\/a><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blood, bruises and belief: how England\u2019s women\u2019s rugby team embody physical and mental\u00a0endurance France v England Women\u2019s Rugby World Cup Semi Final 2025. Photo by Alex Davidson – World Rugby\/World Rugby via Getty Images Helen Owton, The Open University As women\u2019s sport surges on the global stage, hosts England have lit up the Women\u2019s Rugby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3239,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3238\/revisions\/3239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}