Michaela Staniford is the captain of the England women’s Sevens teams, and also plays for the England women’s XVs team. The current IRB Women’s Sevens Player of the Year, Michaela shared her hopes for this season whilst modelling the brand new England kits from Canterbury, marking the start of its four year deal with the RFU.
As captain of the England women’s Sevens rugby team, I was delighted to join my male counterpart, Rob Vickerman, along with England XVs captains Chris Robshaw and Katy McLean, to launch the brand new England Rugby kits from Canterbury.
The new kits have been long awaited, there’s been lots of discussion behind the scenes about what it’s going to look like, and I think Canterbury has done a great job. It’s exciting, the colours are fantastic, and I think the girls are really going to love it.
We’ll be wearing the kit during a massive season, with the 2013 Sevens World Cup in Russia fast approaching. We have some big milestones ahead as we lead up to that, with tournaments coming up in Dubai, the USA, China, Amsterdam and London making up a busy schedule over the coming months.
Sevens is a fast growing form of rugby, but one that a lot of people still don’t know a great deal about. It’s played on exactly the same size pitch as fifteen-a-side rugby, and it’s ultimately rugby that’s really stripped bare. Everything you do is magnified and isolated, so every pass you make is key, every tackle is vital. There’s a real big emphasis on fitness and speed.
Sevens is really exciting to watch. It’s quick, it’s fast, and with only seven minutes each half, at tournaments you tend to see several games all played on one day – at many of the international tournaments we’ve been lucky enough to be involved with, spectators have seen as many as 16 different international teams in just one day. If you’re interested in sport as a spectator, it ticks all the boxes.
Rugby Sevens, of course, will be contested at the Rio 2016, and there’s already a lot of excitement at the prospect of the game becoming an Olympic sport for the very first time. The success of the 2012 games, and in particular the female athletes, has been something to be really proud of.
It gives us a great deal of hope, because in the past female athletes haven’t necessarily had the representation the males have possibly had, but their achievements at this Olympics have been impossible to ignore. It’s definitely motivated a lot of women to get involved in sport, which is exactly what we need.
It’s still a long time away for us as rugby players, but participating in an Olympics is something that no athlete wouldn’t want to be a part of in their career, and who knows, maybe some of the girls inspired to get involved because of events this summer could be part of our Sevens squad in the years to come!
Before I can even think of the Olympics, though, in addition to the Sevens World Cup next year, my thoughts are also on the Fifteens World Cup, which takes place a year later.
In addition to being captain of the Sevens, I’m also lucky enough to play for England’s women’s Fifteens team, which, in addition to my club commitments at Wasps, together with my full-time job as a secondary school teacher, can lead to a rather hectic schedule.
Rugby is ultimately a lifestyle, and as well as teaching each day, I also train every weeknight and play every weekend. It’s difficult, but it’s something that has to be done and gets done because I want to do it.
It can be tough at tournament time to get time off work, but my employees at Rickmansworth School in Hertfordshire have been exceptional in their support, and I can’t thank them enough.
It’s a great time to be a part of women’s Rugby, particularly following the integration of the women’s game into the RFU earlier this year. Rugby is the fastest growing sport for young girls in this country at the moment.
People can be put off taking up rugby, maybe by the physicality, but it’s a sport for all shapes and sizes. There are many forms of the game, from Sevens, Fifteens, Tens, Touch Rugby and Tag Rugby, so it’s multiskilled, it’s fantastic to get involved with, and any strengths you have can be applied to rugby in some way. It’s a fantastic sport to get involved in.
Michaela Staniford for Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
To find out more about the new England Rugby kit from Canterbury, please visit www.canterbury.com/england
