By Paul Eddison, Sportsbeat
Emma Wassell is playing the role of agony aunt, lineout expert and general hype woman for her Scotland teammates, but all the international is dreaming of is getting back on the pitch at the World Cup after tumour surgery at the end of 2024.
The second row most recently played for Scotland in last year’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations, before a mass was discovered in her chest in September, requiring major surgery.
She underwent a sternotomy and is still working her way back through a demanding rehab process, although the 30-year-old has been part of the Scotland camp during this year Six Nations.
That has only fuelled her desire to get back on the pitch with her teammates, with a return for the Women’s Rugby World Cup later this year very much on track.
“It makes you realise just how much you want it,” said Wassell, speaking at the launch of RWC Experiences, a ground-breaking hospitality programme for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025.
“I feel really fortunate that I’ve been able to be around the team. That is not a usual situation but with the way my training is going, if I want to make it back for the World Cup, there is nowhere else I can train.
“I hope I’ve been a welcome addition, I essentially help with morale, I can be someone’s agony aunt, I can add value in terms of lineouts, that is my niche. But also so much of the game is off-pitch, so just the banter, all the other stuff and being able to be part of that has made this process a lot easier for me, albeit hard to not play.
“I know when the time comes, it will be all the bloody sweeter. It’s been crazy and I’m very grateful I’ve been able to be around them, albeit it’s really tough not being in the Six Nations.”
Wassell’s Scotland teammates rallied around her when she first got the diagnosis, with the first few weeks unquestionably the toughest part of the experience.
However, once she understood what she was dealing with and the journey she would have to embark upon to get back, everything became much more straightforward.
“The scariest part was that it happened very randomly and unexplained,” said Wassell, who revealed that a chat with England men’s international Nick Isiekwe had been invaluable after he had undergone the same surgery before getting back to the highest level.
“I spent two weeks having no clue what was happening to me, in a lot of pain, getting biopsies and all the rest of it. But once we found out this is what you need to get, this is what is happening, I viewed it like another rugby injury.
“I tried not to overthink the ifs and buts. I know it was a serious operation that I’ve had, but I’ve had operations before, these are the best in the business, they know exactly what they are doing, so it was treating it just like that. It was very much like I was following a rehab programme. It was just me returning to rugby and not trying to overthink realistically what it was.
“When it all happened, it was scary, but a month after my operation, everything was tested and I found out that it was all benign. Surgery went really well, and it was just about recovering. From there, I was saying: ‘let’s go’.”
The Six Nations came just too soon for Wassell, who is back running and starting to do burpees and getting used to some impact through her chest.
That is still causing some pain with the sensitive nature of her scar, but Wassell is hoping that she will be able to take part in lineout training with the squad from next week, allowing her to be a full participant when pre-season training starts ahead of the World Cup in June.
And while she never would have wanted to spend such an extended amount of time on the sidelines, Wassell believes the diagnosis and recovery has taught her a lot about her own resilience.
She added: “I’ve been given this opportunity to come back and I might just be telling myself this in my head, but I can come back a better athlete than I’ve ever been before.
“There is so much to play for, for me personally but I’m now aware how bloody strong my body is and what it can go through. It gives me that little extra edge when I do take to the pitch.”
With unprecedented anticipation surrounding Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, RWC Experiences packages are expected to sell fast. Fans and private companies can visit experiences.rugbyworldcup.com to explore the various offers and book their preferred exclusive matchday experience.
