DUBAI // A former Welsh international is preparing to return to rugby, nine months after her last comeback attempt was derailed by an injury suffered while doing a handstand at Wild Wadi water park.
Despite spending the remainder of last year’s Dubai Sevens weekend in a wheelchair as a result, Rhian Adams was not put off returning to the city when the chance to relocate here arose this summer.
The 28-year-old scrum-half has moved to the UAE to work as a fitness instructor.
She will attempt to revive a rugby career that was curtailed six years ago by a cruciate ligament injury by turning out for Xodus Wasps in the Women’s League, which kicks off tomorrow.
Back then, she was on the brink of a first call up for Wales’s XVs side when injury struck.
It was so serious, she has rarely played since – opting for less hazardous pursuits, such as boxing and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, instead.
She still has unfinished business in the sport, though. She had informal discussions with Richie Pugh, the coach of the Wales women’s sevens side, about a return before she aggravated her knee problem in Dubai last November.
“We were at the water park, taking pictures, doing handstands, I whacked someone on the shoulder, then was in a wheelchair for the rest of the trip,” she said. “Now I am working my way back to rugby.”
Having recently had minor surgery to trim scar tissue from the old injury, Adams has started training with her new teammates at Wasps in Dubai.
“I have played games on and off since leaving rugby but would love to get stuck in and develop my game up to and further than where I left off,” she said. “I am excited to hit the fields with Wasps this season and see what the team can bring together.”
Adams is aware the women’s game is still developing in the UAE but is keen to do her bit with regard to progressing the sport.
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“It is the same back in Wales,” she said. “You are not paid to play so it is a case of fitting it in alongside work.
“In Dubai, people work long hours and only seem to have one weekend day, so in terms of numbers it is difficult to develop the game.
“But it is getting bigger out here, and hopefully in the future it will take off a lot more.”
Adams will not be fit for tomorrow’s opening round of sevens matches in the women’s series.
However, they are optimistic over their prospects ahead of the new campaign.
“We are inclusive,” said Martin Southern, the new director of rugby at Wasps.
“[The women’s training] is not much different to what we are doing with the men, structured around conditioning, attacking play and defensive play.”
pradley@thenational.ae
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