08 March 2024
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Sportsister meets Sue Day

March 26, 2024

Sue Day is one of the stars of women’s rugby. With an international career that started in 1997, Sue has played in the last three Rugby World Cup tournaments as well as having a successful club career with her club team Wasps. Sportsister caught up with Sue having recently returned from captaining the England squad at the Dubai Sevens World Cup.

After the seven’s tournament in Dubai how do you reflect on being knocked out in the quarter finals?

I think it was a brilliant first World Cup for women’s rugby sevens The whole occasion was really well organised and it was really exciting to be a part of. In terms of our performance, obviously it was really disappointing to lose in the quarter finals but we lost to the eventual winners and the second seeds. I think that any tournament would be pretty poor if there wasn’t the chance that the second seeds could beat the number one seeds. Plus it’s the nature of sevens that it can turn on one thing and that it’s quite unpredictable.

Was it difficult for a women’s rugby team to play out in Dubai with such a different culture?

No not at all. I think the whole rugby sevens occasion out there is quite detached from the culture. From my personal experience we saw the inside of the hotel and the rugby stadium and a few training pitches and not much else. There is a huge tradition of rugby out in Dubai, I’ve played in Dubai sevens tournaments a couple of times before and there have never been any issues.

How have you seen women’s rugby develop in the years you have been playing?

I think like any sport, and especially a relatively young sport, you see the skill levels improve and the standing of the sport improve.

One of the biggest things that I’ve noticed is a lot of people of my generation took up sport at university, where as a lot of the players coming through now have been playing since they were five or six and that is reflected in the age of the squad. You’ve got players that are 18, 19 or 20 playing for England which back in my day would have been much less likely.

Do you think women’s rugby has a negative image?

I think people have negative opinions out of ignorance. As soon as people watch us play they can see that the skill level is really high. That was one of the great things about the Sevens World Cup; you had men’s and women’s matches one after the other so people can see that our skill level is actually right up there. We might not be quite as big or quite as quick but the skill level is there. As soon as people see the sport they understand how good we can be.

How do you balance a working life with international sport?

I worked three days a week and my employer was really supportive and helped me to be flexible in those three days. They allowed me to work when I needed to work and train when I needed to train and they also gave me huge amounts of time off when I needed to play at World Cup’s.

Since I’ve been involved with sevens I’ve actually been full time and that has been a huge challenge to train like a professional athlete, usually twice a day, and to work like a professional - it doesn’t leave much time for anything else. But for me that was manageable because I knew it was a short term goal, the World Cup, and I would be retiring afterwards. It is an extremely difficult thing to do and people’s careers without a doubt suffer enormously because of it.

When you first started playing rugby was it hard as a female because it is such a male dominated sport?

I grew up in a football area anyway so I didn’t really see a rugby ball at school, there just wasn’t rugby around. I really didn’t come across rugby until university.

I think tag rugby has made it easier for girls, it is easier to persuade parents that their daughters ought to be playing tag than full contact rugby. And that then gives you the chance to educate people and realise that girls can play full contact sports too.

What is your career highlight?

That’s such a difficult one to answer! I can’t possibly pick just one; there are just too many things. My international fifteens career started in 1997 and if I picked one thing out of that I think it would devalue everything else.

So I’ll pick a sevens moment because that’s the most recent thing. Winning our first tournament we entered as a sevens squad, which was Amsterdam sevens was amazing. We beat New Zealand, it was the first time they’ve been beaten in nine years. It was the first success we got as a sevens squad and was very special and really started us on our way to building our squad for the World Cup. I know we didn’t achieve exactly what we wanted to at the end of the journey but it was an amazing experience.

What was the lowest moment of your career?

Lows are really difficult too! Pick one of any of the World Cup finals we have lost.
This last one was devastating, like with every World Cup you put absolutely everything into it and you go into it believing you will win, you have to. I don’t think you can win something like a World Cup unless you believe that you’re going to, you need that belief to drive you on to get you through the difficult moments.

Also losing the World Cup final against New Zealand in 2006 wasn’t great.

Who are your heroes or inspirations?

Any sportsperson who makes the best out of their talents. Sportsmen and women with an absolute work ethic, someone that can be the best they can possibly be. Any sportsperson that takes what they’ve got and maximises it and becomes the best they can is my hero.

What do you think the future holds for women’s rugby?

I think the sevens World Cup proved the quality of rugby we have out there and it shows how successful a tournament can be when held jointly with the men. The fifteens World Cup is in England next year and I think the fact it’s in a country with a big tradition of rugby will hopefully help the game to reach a wider audience.

The last few World Cup’s have been really successful in Canada, Spain and Holland but with no disrespect even though they are great up and coming rugby nations, they don’t have that longstanding tradition of rugby. Hopefully by having it in a country where there is that tradition of rugby union we might be able to reach a wider audience.

What you’re fighting against in women’s sport, is a saturated market; men have been playing sport at a high level for hundreds of years. The media was already full before any women’s sport came along so you’re fighting against that and the history and preconceptions. It will take a long time but hopefully the more people that can see the way we play, the better because as soon as they see that they will see it’s something worth watching.

Quick fire:

What is your favourite meal? Thai

If you could go on any reality TV show what would it be? Strictly Come Dancing - I’m so rubbish at dancing I need to learn!

What do you listen to the most on your i-pod? Wham

What is your favourite film? Shawshank Redemption

What was the last book you read? Reading is a great way to relax at tournaments. I love books by Lee Child.

Scarlett Smith, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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