by Dressed in rugby gear, Claire Rafferty bounces into the clubhouse at Sevenoaks RFC and snuggles up next to Rosie Galligan on the sofa.
Rafferty, a former Lioness, and Galligan, a current Red Roses second row, have never met but over the next half hour they engage in a heated conversation that ranges from the rising profile of women’s sport to one of rugby’s great debates: whether they are false eyelashes. Waiting can be frustrating.
Rafferty, who made more than 100 appearances for Chelsea in the Women’s Super League, was capped 18 times for England and featured at the 2012 London Olympics for Great Britain, has started playing rugby at Galligan’s local club, Sevenoaks.
For anyone who has suffered three previous cruciate ligament injuries – as Rafferty did during her 15-year career – the rough and tough nature of rugby may not seem like the most natural choice.
So Telegraph Sport brought the pair together to discuss their respective journeys as elite sportswomen and Rafferty’s unexpected decision to pick up the oval ball.
“I was scared of rugby,” says Rafferty, 35, who retired in 2019. “I didn’t know the rules, I didn’t know anyone. I was afraid of getting hurt and I was sick of being hurt. I had so much trouble with injuries and it was almost… resentful. But the biggest driver [for starting rugby] nor that I wanted to find a new identity from football. I kind of reinvented myself a little bit. The fear just spread.”
Rugby was always on Rafferty’s radar. The Sevenoaks native started watching international matches on TV and joined the Kent club, represented by England’s Ben Earl, after a friend suggested she give it a try.
Galligan’s curiosity piques. “When you turned up for your first training session, did you have anything to say, like people knew who you were?” she asks.
“I didn’t say anything,” Rafferty said. “But the girls were like, ‘Are those football boots on?’ Even learning how to kick the ball and adjusting to its shape was completely different. The pressure came back. I was a footballer. I thought, ‘Surely people are going to expect me to kick a rugby ball!'”
Pressure is a feature of both women’s lives. Rafferty was just a 25-year-old professional – the same age Galligan is now – after a part-time job as a financial analyst for Deutsche Bank. She came through the England ranks at a time when women’s football had some of the resources, investment and off-field support it now has. Rafferty became a victim of the flawed system she found herself in.
Adhere to stereotypes
When she started on the path of England players, aged 15, she was regularly admitted, leading to a battle with an eating disorder. “In terms of the training environment and being weighed, there are expectations about your body weight, even though everyone’s different sizes and you have a different genetic make-up, you’re forced to fit within a certain body type, whether it’s a certain body at you. fat,” says Rafferty. “Then you have pressure from the media.”
As a sportswoman with a growing profile, Galligan, who was awarded a professional contract with the Rugby Football Union after joining the 2022 World Cup, can relate to the pressure of conforming to stereotypes feminine. “I used to wear a full face of make-up to rugby when I was young,” she says. “One day, I was like, ‘Why am I doing this? I don’t wear any make-up during the week, so why am I wearing bronzer, highlighter, eyeliner, waterproof mascara and lip gloss on Saturday?”
That’s before taking into account the precarious financial situation for today’s female athletes. Fees and match bonuses have only recently been written into Red Roses contracts, and most contracts in rugby – and in women’s football – last no longer than a year.
“Men’s footballers have money and if they had to quit, they would be fine,” says Galligan. “My dad said to me the other day – because we have a contract renewal coming up – ‘What if you don’t get a renewal?’
“I have a straight mortgage, my way of life would change completely. I did a couple of years as a marketing manager so I would have something to drop and hopefully bounce back, but for some of the girls who have contracts from 17, 18… it could end your rugby career anytime. It’s a pretty precarious way to live.”
‘I wanted to play rugby growing up’
As a former professional, Rafferty has rediscovered the joy of grassroots sport as a goalkeeper at Sevenoaks, one of the latest rugby clubs in the country to launch a women’s team. Since 2017, more than 130 have formed women’s sides, and the number of female players has risen from 25,000 to 40,000 in five years. The RFU hopes this number will increase to 100,000 by 2027.
“Growing up I wanted to play rugby,” says Rafferty. “The environment is much more open. I don’t know if I’m saying that because I’ve had a high-pressure career. But, with rugby there is a whole level of respect that you don’t have in football. I remember when I was training I accidentally swore at the referee and I immediately felt bad. In football, that’s the norm.”
Galligan laughs, before recounting her own horror story at a recent football game where she was surrounded by screaming fans. Rafferty directs the conversation to a more appropriate topic.
‘Women’s rugby needs to be on TV more’
“I don’t think there are enough women on TV,” she says matter-of-factly. “It definitely should be on TV more. That of course has changed about women’s football. I feel that there needs to be more investment in that area in rugby.”
The Women’s Six Nations has a home on the BBC but the general broadcast offer for women’s international rugby remains poor. WXV England’s campaign last year was not shown on a main channel. The team’s two warm-up games were streamed live, but still attracted nearly 250,000 views online.
Football is a world away from the WSL. Chelsea’s 5-1 win over Liverpool last November was the league’s all-time average audience, peaking at 955,000.
“We’re all on such different journeys where women’s sport is world class,” says Galligan. “The women’s Euros certainly paved the way for that. The Lionesses have changed that legacy for the younger generation and that is something that rugby needs to buy in the next few years.”
Finally, what advice would she give to rugby newcomer Rafferty? “Play with a smile on your face,” she says. “Life is so serious, especially when you’ve been in elite sport and you know the pressures. Accept it, put your head where it hurts.”
She pauses, before giving up one last hint. “Lose a few eyelashes,” she says, as they both laugh.
