‘Farming helps me to be a better rugby player’

A rugby star who looks after 145 cattle says the farming lifestyle helps her to be “a good player”.

Gloucester Hartpury’s Ellie Rugman works on a farm in and out of the season – as do teammate Pip Hendy and Gloucester Rugby’s Arthur Clark.

Ms Rugman, who has a cattle and arable farm in the Forest of Dean, said: “A lot of my strength definitely comes from loading calves onto a trailer, they’re tougher than they look.”

Mr Clark will be the fourth generation to run his family farm in Stow-on-the-Wold once he retires from the sport.

Mr Clark said: “From the age I could walk, I was at the farm helping dad, even when I was meant to be having dinner at home.

“I can remember my grandparents having to try and drag me home to do my homework… by the time I could touch pedals, I was on tractors and quad bikes.”

His dad, Barry, played for Gloucester in the 1980s, and believes farming has helped his son in the sport.

“It’s the work ethic – there’s always something to do,” he said.

“You don’t have spare time. I think that helps, nothing is too much of a challenge.”

In the Forest of Dean, Rugman said she “loves every part of farming” and that it goes “side-by-side” with rugby.

“We eat a lot of food up here and I think that makes a good rugby player,” she said.

“I think a lot of my strength comes from loading calves onto a trailer, they’re tougher than they look and when you’re making a tackle, you think, ‘Crikey, I was tackling a calf last weekend’.

“Just jumping on a tractor or coming up to see the cattle, it takes your mind to a different place and that’s what I love.”

Ms Hendy was born in Bath, grew up on a farm and now balances rugby with rearing more than 100 calves.

“In the mornings, I’ll feed them and go to training and, depending on days, my dad comes and feeds them in the evening,” she said.

She said having a fellow farmer in the squad “definitely helps”.

“I’m like, ‘Ellie, smell me today’, and she says ‘You smell like the cows’.

“You can’t be scared of the mud and poo. It’s one of the best ways to grow up.”