England’s lucky charm Helena Rowland is a Rugby World Cup win away from completing a truly unique list of sporting achievements.
Rowland has already won three TikTok Women’s Six Nations Grand Slams, a Premier 15s league title and represented Team GB at the Olympic Games – all before her 23rd birthday.
Now 16 caps into her Red Roses career, she is yet to taste defeat and hopes that her remarkable run will still be intact after the Rugby World Cup final on 12 November.
Rowland is expected to compete with Zoe Harrison for the fly-half spot in Simon Middleton’s all-conquering side. The pair know each other well, having been teammates at Welwyn Rugby Club in their youth, where prop Hannah Botterman also flourished.
Harrison may be the more senior of the pair – and boast more England caps – but Rowland has been punching above her weight for as long as she can remember.
“I first started playing when I was six as I had an older brother and couldn’t see any reason why I couldn’t do everything that he was doing,” recalled Rowland.
“So I kept asking my dad and eventually he gave in and took me and I just loved it.
“I’ve played it all the way through until now and haven’t had any breaks at all. I played a few other sports and they kind of came and went, but it was always rugby.”
While Rowland is now a common fixture in Middleton’s starting XV for England, the 22-year-old is no stranger to other formats of the game.
Though Rowland was a part of the Saracens side which won the inaugural Premier 15s title in 2018, the offer of a 7s contract upon finishing school was too good to turn down.
She had only dabbled with the shorter format on a couple occasions prior to accepting the opportunity but looks back on the decision as an important step in her career.
“I think 7s was always something in the back of my mind that I’d wanted to do,” she explained.
“I never thought it would come at that point, having not really had too much experience but I jumped at the chance.
“I think it was really beneficial for me to have that opportunity to be part of a full-time setup, to be a full-time athlete.
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“Obviously travelling the world is amazing but you’re constantly in those high-pressure situations which I think as a young player, you’re not really exposed to.”
Rowland then immediately set her sights on a spot in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics squad, having joined the team during the qualification year.
She fulfilled that ambition and although the Games took place in the midst of the pandemic, with Great Britain beaten by Argentina in the bronze medal match, Rowland says it was a life-changing experience.
“Not too many people get to say that they’ve been to an Olympics and considering the prep and everything like that for us to make top four, I think, although heartbreaking that we didn’t get a medal, was a massive achievement looking back,” she said.
“So many people in the village stop me and say, ‘oh, you’re the one who plays rugby aren’t you?’ which never happened pre-Olympics and, it’s just so nice it’s reached a lot of people who wouldn’t have watched it otherwise.”
Though Rowland had always envisaged returning to XVs, she admits the pandemic accelerated her decision, with all 7s competitions having been put on hold.
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Loughborough Lightning was her destination of choice, a move inspired by her studies but also a shared style.
“I think how they play is really exciting,” she said. “I think it suits me coming from a bit more of a 7s background most recently.
“It’s opened the door to all these opportunities with England that I maybe didn’t think would happen, and probably wouldn’t have happened without Covid.
“I have loved the last couple of seasons up there.”
Never one to rest on her laurels, Rowland then returned to the England XVs set-up hoping to quickly re-establish herself as a key player, having won her first cap in the Autumn Nations Series of 2020.
That she did, starting at fly-half for the deciding game of the 2021 TikTok Women’s Six Nations, a tense 10-6 victory over old rivals France.
But it was in this year’s Championship, where Rowland was selected in the Team of the Championship, that she really made her presence felt, covering at full-back after Abby Dow suffered a leg break in a win over Wales.
“It was a bit of an interesting one,” she explained.
“I think prior to those games I had played fullback twice, once in my under-15s divisional and once with Sarries.
“So it was definitely a learning curve, it’s not somewhere that I’m necessarily used to being.
“But you get a little bit more freedom, get to hang out wide a bit more and it was good fun, I enjoyed it.”
Wins over Ireland and France followed as England completed the Grand Slam before further victories over the USA and Wales in Rugby World Cup warm-up matches stretched the Red Roses winning run to a record 25 matches.
With that in mind, Rowland appreciates that England will have a target on their back at the Rugby World Cup, but, as ever, the Loughborough Lightning star seems immune to pressure.
“It’s just been a massive dream of mine to play in a 15s World Cup and I think there’s not many better places than New Zealand,” she said.
“You’re playing the reigning world champions on their home soil in a World Cup potentially, if our paths cross.
“That’s a pretty exciting place to be and I’m really looking forward to it and the challenge that it brings.”
