There were more than 1,000 days between Rosie Galligan’s first and second games for England. As the Harlequins and Red Roses rugby player sharpens her challenging spirit this October, her story is one of conquering setbacks, finding mental fortitude and going for gold.
How England’s ROSIE GALLIGAN used the POWER OF HER DREAMS to overcome serious illness and reach the pinnacle of her sport with the Red Roses. By Nick Heath
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A teenage Rosie Galligan in the changing room ahead of her first SE Counties game in 2014
They needed a girl to be on the wing to score the extra points
‘I’ve achieved my first goal–now it’s time to go one step further’
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Rosie Galligan grew up playing all of the sports on offer during her school days. Having given football, netball and cricket her time, it was a summer touch rugby tournament with her older brother that was the gateway to her success with the oval ball.
Rudyard Kipling’s famous poem If lays down the challenge to treat victory and disaster equally. Having been handed a recall to the England training squad ahead of the 2022 TikTok Women’s Six Nations, Galligan was ready to show her challenging spirit.
“I had nothing to lose. I knew this was my opportunity to go back into an England set-up with no pressure and just be me, and that's exactly what I did.
“I think all the coaches have said to me, post Women’s Six Nations, that I held myself with such confidence – not arrogance, but confidence. That I expressed myself and put myself in the best place. I ended up playing every game of the championship.”
“They needed a girl to be on the wing to score the extra points,” she explains. “At the start of the tournament that’s where I was, but by the end of the couple of weeks, I thought: ‘Hold on a second, I actually want to get involved in this – it’s fun.’ I loved the social element. So, I joined Aylesford Rugby Club, where my family had grown up playing – my dad Tim and my older brother Henry.”
Having performed impressively in training with the girls’ team, remarkably, Rosie’s first full rugby match was a Kent county trial.
“I remember Dad saying to me: ‘Rosie, catch the ball and run hard!’ but the first thing I did was boot it. Luckily one of the girls got on the end of it and it looked great. I was then named at centre for the next tournament for Kent, so that was exciting.”
England on hold
Rugby prides itself on welcoming all shapes and sizes so, having not found her home in other sports, it was a mix of the social aspect and that “the girls in rugby were more like me” that suited Galligan.
“I’ve never been the fastest, fittest kind of girl. I was a big girl for an 18-year-old.”
Galligan soon started going through the gears and making her way in the game. Despite twice missing out on England U20s selection, she found her way to Saracens, having been mentored by Alex Austerberry, who had been her regional development officer and had gone on to become Saracens head coach.
He spotted that a positional switch could make the most of Galligan’s natural talents and allow what was a hobby to become a career. It was a chance for Rosie to realise the power of her dreams.
Those two imposters
DARE TO DREAM
Galligan was part of England’s longest ever pre-season at the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre. Fitter and more resilient than ever, it still took her a lot of work to acquire the mental self-preservation needed to handle the training camp bubble and uncertainty of selection. The Red Roses sports psychologist Helen Davis was earning her corn.
“It’s not always a case of going to Helen and talking about strictly psychological things. Sometimes you just need to have an offload. You don’t know what the coach is thinking. You don’t know what your other teammates are thinking of you and you’re having to try and put your best foot forward every day when you’re absolutely knackered. It’s a lot harder than anyone ever shows.”
“If this trip to New Zealand had been in 2021, I would not have been anywhere near any medal. Getting on a plane? That, for me, was my goal.
“Now my goal has changed. It is now to try and get in the matchday 23. Then, when we hopefully reach the latter stages, my goal is going to be to come home with a gold medal.”
If they gave out medals for capturing a challenging spirit, Rosie would already be polishing a gold. Her dream now is to return with one this winter.
The Telegraph and Honda (England Rugby’s Performance Partner) are inspiring future generations to play rugby and grow the women’s game.
The creation of the Telegraph Honda Rugby Legacy Fund, will help grassroots clubs across the country achieve their ambitions.
For more information, visit tgr.ph/legacyfund
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“Saracens is a place where, if you’re at the top of your game, you’re going to thrive because it’s all about that winning mentality. I think because I knew Alex throughout the regional stuff, he knew that I still had a lot to learn.
“Together with Rob Cain – who was my regional coach – both of them helped me progress into a rugby player who could still showcase the skills I learned as a centre back in the day.
“Being in the forwards suited my game a bit more. That’s probably when I noticed that I could potentially pursue rugby. And now I was playing in the Allianz Premier 15s league, which is the top of the club game.”
Playing a central role for Kent counties
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They needed a girl to be on the wing to score the extra points
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Doctors told her that had she come in a day later, she may have lost both of her legs
The power to dream of winning gold
“When I was in hospital, I didn’t struggle mentally. It was when I got back from hospital and I was trying to get back into normal life that I couldn’t keep up with everyone. Mentally I found that the toughest. I knew it needed to be a time where I had to really focus and not be hard on myself.”
Galligan eventually returned to play for Saracens again but found herself on the gas and air once more – a broken ankle meaning further time away from the pitch.
And she had only been back on the sidelines a matter of weeks before the Covid-19 pandemic shut down club rugby. But this actually became a fortunate twist in her recovery, taking the pressure off and allowing her to refocus on her own ambitions.
“I thought I was going to be at Saracens my whole life but after having meningitis and breaking my ankle, I just came back to rugby, and I wasn’t enjoying it. I didn’t really have my mojo. I’d lost myself.”
A meeting with Harlequins head coach Gerard Mullen allowed Galligan to harness her ambition and to be categoric about what her dreams really were. She wanted to play for England again. Mullen replied: “I believe you can.”
Inspired, Rosie joined the rival London club and credits their strength and conditioning coaches, Merrick Steward and Sam Millard, with helping her get back on track as she put in several outstanding performances.
“They transformed me into an athlete and, for me, everything at Quins just clicked at the right time. They helped me find myself in rugby again and rediscover my love for the game.”
FINDING THE DRIVE INSIDE
All kitted out for a first England cap
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You don’t know what the coach is thinking. It's a lot harder than anyone ever shows
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Galligan’s performances in the league soon caught the eye of the England coaches and she was handed a first cap in the 2019 Women’s Six Nations, coming off the bench against Ireland in Donnybrook. Returning players meant that it would be her only chance during the championship, but her England career was underway.
But the following September put the brakes on everything.
Eight months after her first cap, Galligan was taken ill on the Friday before a club game. Within a few hours of feeling off-colour, she was struggling to walk and was taken to hospital in an ambulance and diagnosed with meningitis.
“The paramedics asked me on a scale of one to 10, how much pain was I in? I said: ‘Look, guys, I play rugby. This is the most pain I’ve ever been in’. They realised something was wrong, put me on the gas and air and I went bouncing down the stairs on my bum and into the ambulance.”
Ten days of hospital treatment followed, including visits from parents, grandparents and teammates. Once home, four further days saw home visits where Rosie was put on a drip “to bring me back to life, really”.
Miraculously, Galligan was back at Saracens within a few weeks, but the disease had taken its toll. A six-minute fitness session on the bike resulted in needing to spend two days in bed.
“It was a realisation of how mentally tough it was going to be and that it was going to be a longer journey than I ever thought. I thought I’d just bounce back straight away.”
“The paramedics asked me on a scale of one to 10, how much pain was I in? I said: ‘Look, guys, I play rugby. This is the most pain I’ve ever been in’. They realised something was wrong, put me on the gas and air and I went bouncing down the stairs on my bum and into the ambulance.”
Ten days of hospital treatment followed, including visits from parents, grandparents and teammates. Once home, four further days saw home visits where Rosie was put on a drip “to bring me back to life, really”.
Miraculously, Galligan was back at Saracens within a few weeks, but the disease had taken its toll. A six-minute fitness session on the bike resulted in needing to spend two days in bed.
“It was a realisation of how mentally tough it was going to be and that it was going to be a longer journey than I ever thought. I thought I’d just bounce back straight away.”
Galligan’s performances in the league soon caught the eye of the England coaches and she was handed a first cap in the 2019 Women’s Six Nations, coming off the bench against Ireland in Donnybrook. Returning players meant that it would be her only chance during the championship, but her England career was underway.
But the following September put the brakes on everything.
Eight months after her first cap, Galligan was taken ill on the Friday before a club game. Within a few hours of feeling off-colour, she was struggling to walk and was taken to hospital in an ambulance and diagnosed with meningitis.