Tess Braunerova

Oxford Captain, Harlequins Scrum Half, Financial Accountant

I first found rugby the way a lot of girls in my ‘generation’ did; totally by accident. Arriving at Oxford University from a Welsh state school and being thrown into essays, tutorials and all sorts of crazy traditions, I struggled to find somewhere to fit in. I’d always turned to sport as my release, so I joined the university tennis team, despite its 6am training sessions which I wasn’t a fan of, and tried my hand at various college sports from football to quidditch (no, I’m not joking). When I eventually got dragged along to an intercollegiate touch rugby tournament and picked up a rugby ball, I immediately loved it (and not just because we won).

Attempts to persuade me to join the university team were met with some resistance, with me claiming that I needed my limbs intact to play tennis. I eventually got dragged down to a wet and windy Monday night training session, which turned out to be a brutal conditioning session.

I loved every minute and from that moment was totally sold on not only the sport, but also the sense of community it brought with it.

This is why, when, three years later when the opportunity to captain the side came, I didn’t hesitate. By this point I had spent a year abroad in Spain and had witnessed first hand how powerful the sport could be at bringing you a sense of community, and a home away from home.

Although I felt vastly under-qualified for the job, having only played for two seasons, only one of those at Oxford, I also felt a strong sense of wanting to give back to the club that had brought me so much. I figured if i could help create that sense of community and support for just one other student, it would be worth it.

At the time, the club was entirely student run and independent from the men’s side. The captain was the ultimate boss. All of a sudden I was tasked with hiring a new coach, planning preseason and recruiting new players. There was also no manual as to how to do any of this, it was more of a learn on the job sort of role. So, employing the advice of all those I trusted, not to mention the captains that came before me whose words of support and wisdom I depended upon, I got stuck in.

A summer of planning later, and we had a 2 week preseason organised, with a record number of 40 players attending. You can imagine how i felt when, two weeks into the season, our coach had quit (hours before we were to fire him) and suddenly all my great planning imploded. Six days later I took a team of 15 players (yes, no subs) and no coach, to play the top of the table.

My right hand woman, Christina, and I ran the forwards and backs warm ups respectively, as well as doing them ourselves of course. We were to play a team full of young stars, a number of whom would go on to be England capped, so we left the water bottles under our own post, with one optimistic one on the halfway line.

Needless to say, we lost the game (105-0 in fact). But, no one went to hospital and no one cried, and to me, that was a win.

Two girls played their first ever games of rugby that day, one of whom would go on to play in the first match at Twickenham a year later, so at least it didn’t put them off the game. Incredibly, no one gave up, despite what we were up against, not one of those girls wasn’t willing to put her body on the line for her teammates. And that is rugby.

The year got better, we employed two injured men’s players to be our coaches, and we got some structure back. Picking the weekly team became easier now I had input from coaches, and I grew in confidence as I realised that this group of girls wouldn’t give up on me as much as I wouldn’t give up on them. Our new coaches, Boarders and Ferg, were brilliant at bringing both their technical knowledge of the game to our squad, as well as driving standards of intensity. They also had a bit of a mad side, particularly when it came to conditioning. I remember a particular session where we were made to punch tackle bags until our knuckles bled, with Boarders claiming that ‘we weren’t done until someone either threw up or cried’. He was obviously joking (I think).

I had my own battles with them almost weekly, be it selection or heated discussions on why coaching women is different to men (usually me demanding they amend their approach to something). Always taken well, heated changing room conversations would be smoothed over by a few pints, and I was always grateful to have ended up with such committed coaches given the tumultuous start. They’ve told me since that they also found the experience enlightening, saying they learnt a lot and thoroughly enjoyed it.

As is tradition, the culmination of our season, and the only match that really mattered, was Varsity, an age old tradition in which the Dark Blues (Oxford) would play the Light Blues (Cambridge) for the pride of who was the better blue, as well a running tally over the years of who has won more Varsity matches. Played at the start of March at alternating venues between Oxford and Cambridge, we had the pleasure of travelling to Cambridge to play at Grange Road that year. As history would have it, it was also to be the last Varsity to be played in such a format, with the Women’s match being moved to be played alongside the Men’s at Twickenham stadium in December. A big achievement for both the sport and the clubs respectively, and a sign for bigger things to come.

I had tried to do everything right in the build up to Varsity. From champagne receptions for squad announcements to making sure I spoke to every player about what their role would be on the day and the reasoning behind it. I didn’t want there to be a single player that went into that day unhappy or feeling unappreciated.

As sport often goes, you can only control the controllables, and the outcome of matches is often not one of them.

Our second team Panthers, produced a stunning victory worthy of the biggest celebration, playing with confidence and pride. The first team, the Blues, didn’t have as good a day. Coming up against a much more experienced Cambridge side who had been winning all season in the BUCS league below us, they brought a ferociousness of attack and a line-speed in defence that we had no answer for and we were badly defeated.

Crushing as the loss was, and we were devastated, none more so than me, who desperately wanted our year to have the fairytale ending, I came to realise there were some positives that were far more important than the scoreline.

Somewhere between all the chaos and build up to the big day, we had become a team - in every sense of the word.

A sense of unity and cohesion that makes you feel warm inside, knowing that every single teammate has your back and is willing to go into battle with you. A pride in what you have together achieved and a desire to do it for each other as much as for yourself. Asked what my favourite rugby memory is, it's that feeling, that warmth and sense of family that makes all of the cold wet windy evenings worth it.

I graduated that summer, had a short stint for Henley Hawks before joining Richmond where we won the Championship and I got my Premiership debut that season. Four seasons later, I moved to Harlequins women where I now play my rugby. There are countless victories and memories along that journey, each marked by the same unifying characteristic of unity, cohesion and ultimately, family. It is the feeling inspired by the game and those who play it that makes rugby a special sport. As they say, there are numerous reasons why people start playing the game of rugby, but there is one single reason why they all stay: community.