Source : ABC NEWS
An emotional Emily Chancellor admits that if she were told she would feature in two Women’s Rugby World Cups, earn 41 caps for the Wallaroos and spend eight years with the national team, she would have laughed.
Even after announcing her retirement from international rugby on Monday, the 35-year-old still cannot fathom what has really unfolded over her glittering career.
“Rugby wasn’t an option for me growing up. I didn’t know that it [the women’s game] existed,” Chancellor said as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Having found the game when I was at uni, playing sevens, dabbling in that, and then finding 15s in 2015. I knew from the start that this was a game that I wanted to be involved in.
“It [retirement is] a hard one because I’m still here, physically, and feel capable. But I also think I’m ready for the next chapter.
“But if you told me then that I would have been playing internationally for eight years, I would have probably laughed at you.”
Chancellor is set to play her final game for the Wallaroos when she runs out against Scotland on Friday at Canberra Stadium.
The back-rower’s potential 42nd Test comes after she made her debut against New Zealand in 2018 aged 26, when she was awarded the player of the game.
“I was so terrified. I remember sitting in the change room, thinking, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m playing against another country. I’m not good enough for this,'” she said.
“Then [I was] like, ‘Well, of course I’m good enough. I’ve been picked to play for my country’.
“I’d been a rugby fan for a long time, gone to games with my dad and mum all the way through growing up. I just didn’t realise that you could do it as a girl.
Chancellor only announced her retirement from international rugby. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan)
“As a curious person, someone who had always watched the game, [I wanted] to actually nail the detail, the intricacies of such a complex game.”
The 35-year-old featured in her first World Cup in 2021 before suffering an ACL injury in 2024.
But the best was yet to come for the back-rower as she would become the Wallaroos’ 19th captain last year before featuring in the World Cup campaign in England.
“If I can drive a standard and keep pushing a program to be better than we are, then I have done my job. And I think back to the years of being in this team, and I’m pretty proud of how I have tried to do that,” Chancellor said.
“It’s a really special team. I’ve played with 108 players across my [Wallaroos] career.
“We’ve seen the growth. We’ve been part of some crazy experiences … I wouldn’t have pushed myself and my body and made the choices to choose this lifestyle for so many years if it wasn’t worth it.”
AAP
