Abbie Ward: Rugby player wants to ‘smash glass ceiling’

Ms Ward said Bristol Bears have been “brilliant and proactive”, organising a changing table and asking what else she needs. “They’ve come to me with everything, I haven’t had to ask for anything”.

“Part of this is about normalising and shedding light. In the men’s side, so many of them have children and families.

“But in the women’s side, at Bears, there are two of us with children.”

And there is a physical consequence to choosing to have a baby while still competing for woman.

“If you look at peak performance as climbing Everest, and you’re getting up there to the top.

“Having a baby is not just going back down to base camp, it’s going all the way down into Napal and you have to start again.

“It has been very hard work but when you get back up there,” she added.

“It’s just a completely different ask of yourself, mentally it’s also tough,” but she said you can have it all “if you put the work in, take the highs with the lows and enjoy it”.

“I’m absolutely loving being back in an England shirt, and a Bristol shirt, and it’s been an unbelievable season to come back into.

“I wanted to make very clear just because I’m having a baby it doesn’t mean I’m any less ambitious about my rugby.

“It’s been a tough nine months getting back to this point… [but] I don’t feel like I’ve played my best rugby yet.

“Getting that shirt back was just the start… I’ve got a lot of gears left in me,” she added.