DEFENDER — EMBRACE THE IMPOSSIBLE

It was a combination of separation anxiety and brotherly love that first got New Zealand native Tania Rosser hooked on rugby. “It goes back to my childhood. I've got two older brothers who played rugby and they were in a boarding school. The only time I got to see them was on the rugby pitch, so each week I used to love going to see them play their games. It was quite a special moment throughout my childhood, growing up and watching my brothers play rugby,” she says. Inspired by her siblings, it wasn’t long before young Tania began employing a little gentle coercion to get to play the game she loved. “They wouldn't allow me to play rugby - I was only allowed to play netball in New Zealand. I was an okay netball player, but my passion was rugby and so I suppose I bullied my Dad into creating a women’s touch rugby team! From there, my love for rugby grew.” Indeed it grew to such a degree that Rosser was soon proficient at the various codes of the game. An all-round athlete (and netball player), she played international rugby at several different codes of the game, including touch, sevens and fifteens. Although New Zealand-born, she has been living in Ireland for more than 23 years and has worn the green shirt with distinction.

Tania Rosser, the rugby coach and former international, on her career highlights, everyday inspiration and embracing the impossible

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Game changer Tania Rosser looks back on her groundbreaking career both as a player and coach

Home team Rosser is deeply inspired by her love of family

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Rosser is now harnessing her experience as head coach of the Leinster Rugby Women’s team. Although she was the first woman to fill the role, she firmly believes it is her ability and her experience that is important, not her own gender or even that of the team she is training. “I just see whoever I coach as a rugby player. I don't see them as a female player or male rugby player. And I’m the same: I'm a coach at the end of the day. I'll approach it to the best of my ability, whether I'm coaching a female team or a male team… that's just the way I am in life. To me, everyone is equal and should have the same opportunities as anyone else,” she says. No one is in a better position to have observed the evolution of women's rugby, both in Ireland and internationally. When asked about her vision for Leinster Women's Rugby a decade from now, she is very clear. “I'd love to see them be professional - and we do have some of our players contracted at the moment.. But for that to happen, we've got to get the infrastructure right. We've got to make sure that the structures, the coaching set-up, the facilities and everything else is right for them. And then hopefully they'll be professionals, getting paid and playing on TV every week.”

As for Rosser’s own playing career, several highlights jostle for a place in her memory, with two moments in particular standing out. Her first cap, of course, is embedded forever in her mind. “It was in France, in a sold-out stadium. It was cold. Just putting on the green jersey and getting a run out with the girls was amazing,” Rosser recalls. Rugby is a game of friendship and bonds that cross all social divides. Reflecting on her playing and coaching career thus far, it’s clear that Rosser has embraced that side of the game – welcoming the relationships born out of a struggle in the trenches together. “I think the highlight of all my experience with sport is the friends I've come to know over the years. I've got friends and family all over the world now and I think that's the biggest highlight. Yes, the achievements of winning championships are great, but I think it's the bonds you make with other people that really resonate with you.” There is, of course, another career high that she cherishes, and it's one she shares with a pretty special group of female rugby players. That achievement was being part of the first team from this country to beat the seemingly invincible New Zealand back in 2014, on the occasion of Rosser’s 50th cap, no less.

CAREER HIGHs

EMBRACE THE IMPOSSIBLE

Another figure who played the game with swagger and scored tries for fun during his heyday was the graceful French fullback Serge Blanco. Blanco was known for his panache and style, and the way he played rugby helped him to influence a whole generation of fans. Among that group of admirers was Tania Rosser’s husband Simon, and it led – in a roundabout way - to the couple naming their first-born son after the mercurial French talent. “When the French team came out to New Zealand, that was one of the first international games that Simon went and watched, and Serge Blanco was one of his favourite players. I love the way he played the game, too.” Little Serge almost had an Irish name but there was a slight issue with Rosser’s Kiwi accent. “I was going to name him Fionn but I can’t pronounce Fionn right… all my Irish players said ‘no’, so we went with Serge.’’ Today, Serge is the driving force behind Rosser’s indomitable energy and the reason she gets up in the hail, rain and sleet to put out cones and organise training drills for her charges at Leinster and elsewhere. “First and foremost, I’m a mum,” she acknowledges. And that keeps her grounded. Indeed, she is rightly proud of having been back on the rugby pitch, competing at international level for a warm-up game, just three months after Serge was born. “I think my son is one of the reasons I get up and go to work every day. I think I need to show him what it is to achieve something. Serge is probably my inspiration for why I do what I love doing, because we need to show our children that we are strong as mothers and as female coaches – even though I'm just a coach at the end of the day. He inspires me to get up every day and do what I do.” That’s what you get with Tania Rosser: a little inspiration, a little grit and a lot of determination, both on and off the pitch.

A SERGE of energy

BE YOURSELF, RALA

EMBRACE THE IMPOSSIBLE

A great man once remarked, “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. So it seemed for Irish rugby teams facing New Zealand. It wasn’t impossible to beat them - it had just never been done in over a century of test matches until a fateful afternoon in France. If ever there was an example of embracing the impossible, it was the team that lined up against New Zealan’s Black Ferns on August 5, 2014 in a Pool B Rugby World Cup match at Marcoussis, in the southern suburbs of Paris. It was always going to happen that an Irish team would eventually beat their bogey team, but this particular theatre did not seem set up for a 17-14 scoreline in Ireland’s favour. It certainly wasn’t a result that many outside the squad saw coming, as Rosser was well aware. “When we headed out to the World Cup, we were told that we weren’t even going to get out of the pools. Right from the start, it was like, ‘Oh well, hard luck - you're playing the Black Ferns’ and I think the whole underdog situation there really set us up well,” she says. Revelling in their no-hope status, the team bonded before the game, as the build-up to that epic week drew to a close. “You know what, we just took it on and… no one believed in us but we had gelled so well together. We believed in each other and we just ran with it.”

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING

“You know what - we just took it on and no one believed in us but we had just gelled so well together. We believed in each other and we just ran with it.”

Reflecting on the game at a distance now, she can recognise the gritty determination that was necessary to close it out; a resolve that has to come from somewhere deep within. “The thing we did well was that we fought right through to the end. We were really fit and that squad was probably one of the best I've ever been involved with, because we were all on the same page, from management, to medical staff to the 36 players.” It was a great achievement that certainly sent shockwaves through the women’s game and inspired others, as Rosser is well aware. “Embrace the impossible, I suppose, means dare to believe. Believe in yourself. Break down the barriers. Work hard to achieve what you want to achieve. It's about going over and beyond what other people expect from you - overcoming anything that might get in your way and not letting anyone else stop you.” On a personal note, given her heritage, that game was even more special. “My Dad always said, ‘If you can't play for the best team in the world, then why not go out and beat them?’ That was his advice to me. It was great. I got to stand in front of the Black Ferns who were doing the Haka, which is my culture and something I love and respect.” It was reported in the press as “a stunning upset” and so it was. The ladies had shown the way for the men to follow, which they too achieved not long afterwards. The dam had been breached and New Zealand’s air of invincibility was finally cast aside under the stark glare of the scoreboard. What is especially pleasing about the result is that it was achieved playing smart, calculated, expressive rugby – scoring creative, well worked tries at crucial stages of the game.

Driven to excel Rosser believes that hard work and self-belief are key to 'embracing the impossible'

Rosser loves the challenges that come with coaching and has a bond with the team. A background in education helps. She is a primary school teacher and has just finished a post-grad in special education. “I love seeing people grow and the fact that I'm helping young players develop into great players, I suppose. I just love teaching and I think coaching and teaching complement each other. I enjoy being around people and helping them learn and grow, while at the same time, they are helping me to grow as a coach.” Part of the challenge has been changing mindsets, arguably the hardest thing to address in an environment that can sometimes seem resistant to new thinking about women in leadership roles in sport. “It can be tough at times. I'm often asked, am I the physio? Am I the manager?” Rosser says. Her experiences have led her to try to be a role model for other women looking to take on leadership roles in the game. “Between a male counterpart in my role and myself, I'd say that the male counterpart gets things a lot easier than I would. And I'm okay with that,” she says. “I'm okay with working to try and break down barriers. I'll push the boundaries as far as I can, ask questions and try to make things better for our set-up.” While readily acknowledging that things have come a long way since her early days as a coach, she keeps working to play her part in the evolution of the game she loves.

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