Player Profile: Carys Williams

Loughborough Lightning Rugby

Carys Williams, centre for both Loughborough Lightning and England Rugby, is going to be competing in her first Six Nations tournament this coming February. She already has three England Rugby caps, and received her full-time contract in January. We met her at the Elite Athlete Centre in Loughborough to ask a few questions ahead of the tournament.

How did you get into rugby?

“Both my brother and sister started playing when they were eight years old, they were at Burton Rugby Club… My dad took me and a group of friends down after a sleepover, when I was younger I always said ‘Why would you want to roll around in mud all day?’, but when I went to the first session I loved it.”

Were you always a talented athlete, or did rugby strike a specific chord with you? 

“Yeah, I always played all the sports at school, but just really enjoyed rugby outside of school, and then went to college when I was 16 in a rugby academy (Moulton College). So yeah, I think it’s just something I’ve always enjoyed doing, I just love spending time playing rugby”.

World Rugby TV

Carys Williams on living her England dream

When did you get into the more serious side of the sport?

“So I got into the England U20’s side when I was at college, and the training there was full-time, so we trained every day and did strength & conditioning, so it was a bit more serious. I went to Nottingham Trent University and played for Lichfield in the Premiership, and then kind of dropped out of the England set-up and was enjoying my club rugby. I moved to Australia and Canada to play a couple of seasons over there, and then came back and played for Loughborough for the last couple of years.”

Do you feel like your Six Nations debut will be different to other debut performances?

“So we’re playing Ireland first, and hopefully I’ll be selected, we’ll find out on Monday. I’m still quite nervous, but I think people gave me good advice. The coaches and my teammates gave me good advice just to enjoy the whole experience and build up to the game. Once the game starts it is just a game of rugby and try and be comfortable.”

Catch Carys and her England team mates in action this Sunday at 12.30pm as the Red Roses take on Wales in round three of the Women's Six Nations.