Alison Miller

I definitely didn't want to do any study, but I had to, but I was just looking for something.

And two of my friends, Andy and Shane, had always said, I think you'd be really good at rugby.

And I took it up that year in college.

I hadn't really a clue what I was doing.

Yeah, and I kind of, I suppose it was the attitude.

You don't know what's around the corner.

Life is short.

You should try new things.

you should give it a go because maybe it had been in the back of my mind because people had said it to me I had vaguely signed a petition in St Leo's when I was 14 to form a rugby team in Carlow that was the back of my mind I was strong and fast I suppose I had the balls skills from other sports and I just gave it a go and yeah it was

It is a hard sport to take up when you've never played because it doesn't really make sense.

No, definitely not.

I would have been aware of the team, all right, and I did know my friend Lindsay McHenry.

Shout out to Lindsay.

She was the first girl I know to play rugby.

I went to school with her in St Leo's, so she was playing for Kilkenny at the time.

And the Carlow women had a team at the time.

was aware of it and in my head I never distinguished it as like it was like playing football it was like doing ballet it was like doing gymnastics I didn't ever put oh it's traditionally a male sport or it's that physical it was just another sport that I could play.

Played that year in college.

I was playing football for Leash at the same time that I took it up, which they weren't that happy with.

I'm sure they weren't.