Varsity Match 2019: Coreen Grant seeks to make it second time lucky at Twickenham by helping Cambridge University RUFC glory
When Coreen Grant walks out of the Twickenham tunnel tomorrow, it will be retracing the footsteps of the spring.
Time has not stood still for the 21-year-old centre in either her academic or rugby pursuits, and in little more than eight months, she will be once again be representing her educational institution at English rugby’s HQ.
And this time, she will be aiming to leave with a win.
Grant has caught the eye this Michaelmas Term in Cambridge University’s build-up to the Women’s Varsity Match.
The style and ability was evident from the off in the Light Blues’ first pre-season game in September, which was ironically against Durham University, her alma mater.
Now studying an MPhil in English at Corpus Christi, Grant had done her undergraduate degree at Durham and helped them reach their first BUCS Championship final in April, when they ended up losing 30-26 to the University of Exeter.
The former Scotland under-18 international is now heading back to Twickenham with the Light Blues.
“It’s pretty unique, and not a situation I thought I would be in – it’s in different contexts, I think,” she says.
“With Durham, it was a first. We had never made it that far before so it was huge for the club and we knew Exeter were going to be really strong competition.
“It was about the best of university rugby that there was in the country, and a complete showcase for women’s rugby and being the best.
“Whereas with Cambridge, I have to view it in the context of the history of the match that has come before.
“I hadn’t appreciated what it meant to get a Blue before I came here and how many people I’ve talked to have said we used to go to the Varsity Match back in the day.
“It’s such a big day out and it has so much rivalry that I hadn’t anticipated. I think with the Varsity, the important thing is the coverage it gets for women’s rugby.”
There is a big difference between the two clubs, Durham and Cambridge, as well.
At Durham, it is one of the largest women’s university rugby programmes in the country at the moment.
They have three teams in the BUCS league – the first being in the National division - and a host of college teams that act as a feeder system for the club.
“It’s been fairly advanced for a while and since my first year there, it’s grown hugely as well,” says Grant.
“It’s become a lot more of an elite performance centre.”
In contrast, Cambridge are making big strides to develop the game at the university, and trying to extend their reach into the colleges.
“I’ve actually been really pleasantly surprised with the set-up here,” explains Grant.
“They obviously don’t have the depth yet but it’s something they’re working on.
“They’ve got a big dev squad this year, with a huge turn-out of girls, and Bryony (Warnock-Horn) is working really hard on the college side of things to try to get that up and running.
“I think the big difference is that for the Cambridge team, the Varsity is the focus which wasn’t something I had appreciated at all.”
Something that is very much the same is striking the right balance between work and play.
Not only is Grant studying for her MPhil and representing Cambridge, she is also training and playing for Saracens Women.
The busy schedule keeps her on her toes, and she relishes having a full plate.
“I find that if I have a sports schedule then it means I’m much more productive with my studies because I know I have a finite amount of time so I’ve got to use it well,” she says.
“With English, I don’t have many contact hours so it’s a lot of self-discipline and motivation to do my own solitary study.
“If I have training to look forward to in the evening, then I get a much more productive day done in the library.
“It helps to structure my days and it’s also such a stress relief.
“If you’ve had a tough day in the office then just forgetting about for a while, having a head space that is completely separate is good. I find when I’m not exercising I’m not nearly as focused.”
Sharing the travelling workload to Saracens has also helped, with Bluebell Nicholls also on the books of the Southgate-based side.
It has given the duo time to learn to understand each other, and they will be looking to put that to the test against Oxford tomorrow.
“It’s been great as a centre partnership having her at both Saracens and Cambridge to work out how to not just play together but as people as well. Like how to deal with stress, whether we are chatty or withdraw into ourselves,” says Grant.
“If something goes wrong on the pitch, how to deal with it.
“It’s been really good having that relationship at Cambridge and Saracens and hopefully that will translate on the pitch.”
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Varsity Match 2019: Emma Pierce keeps a rich sporting heritage running at Cambridge University RUFC
