Try, try, try again

Round & About

We chat to Rugby World Cup winner & World Cup commentator Heather Fisher, AKA “Fish” about life & sport

Hi Heather! We’ve been enjoying the rugby. Being a champion with the Red Roses in 2014, how do you gain a winner’s mentality? “It’s grown and installed in training, every day: values, what we stand for, your identity as a team and as an individual. Facing our wall of white shirts is tough, we’re a strong team, and England have amazing talent across the whole squad. It’s about inspiring every young girl and boy to want to grow up and be the very best they can be. That is what England is about. It’s about creating a legacy. When you put that England shirt on, you feel invincible!” 

Q. You began your career in bobsleigh… how did that happen?! “Yes! I used to dream about being an athlete, I saw Olympians as superheroes. I started playing rugby, at 15 or 16 but got dropped, for things like forgetting my socks, my gum shield. As a youngster, you think ‘what’s your problem?’ Later, you realise all these little things make up the bigger picture of success. I was sat in a coffee shop and someone came up, said I looked pretty strong, would I like to try out for GB bobsleigh team in the Winter Olympics? I’m a great believer that doors close and others open. I competed for GB in bobsleigh for three years before going into England Sevens. I got a few medals, had a few crashes, got cold and I had a little lucky hamster I managed to get on a plane all the way home! Bobsleigh gave me the foundations for speed and power. I converted it into rugby.” 

Q. Who was your role model? “My strong mum. And, on the pitch, Jonah Lomu – I wanted to run people over like that.”  

Q. What advice would you have for any parents worried about the risk of injury? “There are risks in all walks of life. Sport is at a level where we’ve got so much science behind us, the best kit, the best coaches, the best people to patch us back together. It’s the safest place you can get injured. Injury is part of being an athlete – and I think it’s one of the hardest parts. But it’s part of the territory.” 

Q. You’ve spoken movingly about your alopecia and about how people have treated you, not always kindly. How are you? “Being totally honest, we’re taught to be really positive but I’m vulnerable and I still struggle with looking different. I have good people around me, a supportive partner. When I lost my hair, I felt disgusting. I think having muscles and a bald head, the media has a responsibility to show there are different ways to be female. And yes, I could wear a wig, but it’s so itchy.” 

Q. If you had a magic wand, what would you wish for? “That success wasn’t built around money, but values. I wish everybody had the ambition to be a better person. We’ve lost so many lives around the world to fighting but I wish everybody would lead with kindness.”