Leanne Infante's World Cup Column: Camper vans & reunions
In the fifth instalment of her World Cup Column, Leanne Infante talks emotions, van life and messages from home.
I was completely drained after the Canada game. In all the games we’ve played, that was by far the toughest. I actually cried coming off the pitch afterwards, I was walking over to Matt and sort of flopped into his arms. He said to me ‘are you crying because you’re hurt or do you just need a minute?’ and it was definitely just that.
We always knew the semi-final was going to be a physical game. Getting to the back end of the competition, everyone is upping their game and it feels like it gets more intense. The last 10-15 minutes or so were especially tough, we were defending for quite a lot of it, and though I wouldn’t say we were ever in doubt, it was definitely the furthest we’ve been pushed yet.
#VanLife
Getting recovery in and prepping well for this week has been really important. The coaches actually pulled us in for five minutes or so and said, ‘don’t underestimate what you’ve just done, take the time to relax and switch off for some time’, so we had the opportunity of staying outside of camp on the Sunday night after the game.
We had 24 hours where we could leave and not have to think about rugby, which is so important so that you’re fresh in the later stages of the week. Matt has hired a camper van for the time he’s over here, so I joined him and we stayed in this really nice campsite where we played cards, had a lovely dinner, and just relaxed for the evening.
On Monday morning we cooked dinner in the van and made our way back up to Auckland (stopping halfway for a coffee, of course). We have a bit of a routine back at home where we’ll get up in the morning on a weekend and watch the Super Rugby games, so we were able to replicate that over here by watching the England men’s game against Argentina.
Red Roses Reunion
We had a bit of a party on Thursday, all the past Red Roses came in to introduce themselves, tell us their stories and present each of us with a rose. Emma Mitchell, Red Rose #19, presented me with my rose before we all watched videos from friends and family back home. They’ve created a brilliant display of messages of support which is now up on the wall in our team room. There’s a lot of really positive energy around the camp coming in and it’s been really cool to hear their stories and feel their support.
The girls that I coach over at Guildfordians Rugby Club have also been sending some amazing good luck messages. It’s so great to see them from the other side of the world all loving their rugby. My mum and my sister sent a lovely video message which was shown on the big screen.
It’s definitely making it all feel more real that we’re nearing the end and the support has really ramped up. To think that this time next week it’ll all be over is surreal, so we’ve just got to enjoy it and take in every moment. This whole experience has been amazing and I’m so thrilled to be here. Saturday will definitely be a day to remember and I’m buzzing for it.
