telegraph.co.uk/tws @WomensSport @TelegraphWomensSport
aesthetic route of wanting me to be
really skinny to thinking, ‘I want to
be strong and powerful and have a
future in this sport’.”
What is striking about Crake’s
personal admission is that she is
speaking in front of four of her
Wasps team-mates as they prepare
for the Premier 15s season.
Evans, 25, is keen to point out
that – like Crake – she is not sure
how she would have fared without
rugby. “In year six, I was probably
one of the chubbiest and I think
both my parents were concerned I
was too chubby for my age. I felt
that pressure a bit. If I had not
found rugby, I am not sure what
would have happened because,
with rugby, I had the stability of
realising I was chubby but I was
really strong. That kept me going
through secondary school.
“Rugby is liberating because we
are not really thinking about how
we look but about how effective
we are in our position. I have tohave broader shoulders to
scrummage and be a good prop.
We grew up in the era where Keira
Knightley was the ideal, it was all
about being super-skinny. It wasn’t
fashionable to have a big bum or
big hips. Every girl wanted to be
six stone, like Liz said.”
Derk, who grew up outside
Stockholm, describes how rugby
altered her perceptions of the
rigorous beauty standards many
teenagers set for themselves.
“Even though I am one of the
smallest girls in the team, I was a
gymnast so I have broad shoulders
and bigger thighs. Growing up I
was always a bit different to the
other girls and my brother used to
tell me I looked meaty. I hated it. If
he said it now, I would love it.
“I wanted to be even more
petite. It wasn’t until I got to rugby
that I realised you need muscles. It
had nothing to do with how I look,
having muscles is about staying
strong, healthy and will stop yougetting injured.” Goulden chips in:
“Strong is the new skinny. You
don’t get figures like ours without
earning them. It is a privilege to
have a body like this because it
shows you are working hard.”
The quintet agree that opinions
towards more muscular figures
have improved, but Evans points
out that it is what she dubs the
“pretty sports” that often get the
most attention from sponsors or
the growing trend to have sports
stars on the pages of fashion
magazines. “We can’t be glamorous
like Serena Williams is on court
with fancy earrings because we
play a contact sport,” she says.
“We want to show the variety of
women across all sports, not just
the pretty sports like tennis,
running. Then football, to some
extent, is prettier because they are
all quite slim. That is why some of
the sports like rugby or shot put
need to get the exposure.”
Crake reveals the change in herself-confidence come the end of
the season, when she is no longer
surrounded by fellow rugby
players. “Once rugby season is
over, I am way more aware of the
societal pressures compared to
when I am around my team-mates.
During the season, I don’t weigh
myself and then at the end I am
obsessed with wanting to be more
slender and I worry that I look
‘big’. I will always struggle with
that societal pressure. Sometimes
you go shopping and you try
everything on and feel rubbish. In
things like off-the-shoulder tops, I
feel like I look hulkish, so I won’t
wear them. But I am reassured that
my body is for a purpose.”
The thought of showering naked
in front of others could be off-
putting for some new to a sport.
However, this helped Crake
grow in confidence. “When you are
knackered after playing 80
minutes, everyone gets in the
shower and you are suddenlyseeing real women, their bodies
and how they move. It was a big
thing for me to realise, my thighs
move, this is normal.”
Baltruweit adds: “It is a physical
contact sport, so you want people
to think you look strong and tough.
You want to be a danger from just
the way you look. I want to look
strong because it will show the
opposition that you are serious.”
While female players might not
yet earn the same endorsements as
their counterparts in other sports,
Derk sells rugby very well as a
place where body-image worries
can be put aside and females can
feel empowered.
“The only one who is going to
worry about your body so much is
you. We are all going through this.
I would never look at someone and
think they are not worthy because
of how their body is, but you would
do it to yourself. But in rugby we
are all put on the same level and
that is why we love it.”liberating women
The Daily Telegraph Friday 16 August 2019^ *** 3
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