WATERFALL resident and ex – Hillcrest High learner, Tayla Kinsey (20) has the guts and skills to do what few woman would do by playing full – contact professional ladies rugby.
Tayla has always been an avid sports player, playing first team touch rugby, soccer and hockey at High School, and continuing with Club touch rugby after school. She was approached at the beginning of 2012 and asked if she would be interested in trying out for Rovers ladies rugby team.
Her father, Billy Theunissen is a rugby coach and, therefore very rugby orientated and helps her with perfecting her rugby technique. “He has helped me a lot, is always there for me and is one of my biggest supporters. Along with my Mom who is like my manager, she co – ordinates everything for me and she is proud of me know matter what I do.”
Having proven herself at Club level, Tayla went to the Natal Ladies Sharks trials last year May where she was selected into the squad. Despite having played for such a short period of time, her talent shone through and in December 2012 she was selected for the SA ladies squad.
She is kept busy with playing Club rugby from January to June and Natal rugby from June to September with games every couple of weekends and SA training camps once a month. To keep her fitness levels up the girls are also encouraged to gym and run daily.
“A lot of people think women’s rugby means you don’t tackle but it is exactly the same as the men’s rugby and the players can get quite aggressive and competitive,” explained Tayla. “It can be quite nerve wracking before a game but once you on the field the adrenaline kicks in and you forget about everything.”
Luckily Tayla hasn’t sustained any serious injuries although she has been kicked in the face and had her head stood on. “I also can’t do other sports in case of injury.”
A highlight for Tayla was her trip to England in July to play in the Nations Cup as part of the SA ladies rugby team. Although SA finished last, they beat England for the first time in history. “It was an amazing experience and my first time overseas. Ladies Rugby is so much bigger overseas. It is treated as a normal thing over there which is why they do so well where here (SA) there is not much exposure to it and not many people hear or know about ladies rugby. There are so many girls who would love to play rugby but don’t know about it.”
On 7 September she played Uganda in East London in the World Cup Qualifier where the team beat Uganda 63-3 which qualified SA for the World Cup to be held in Paris next year.
“East London is the heart of rugby and it was the first time we got recognised and asked for our autographs and photographs. There there are little girls who want to be like you and aspire to be like you, unlike here where not many people come to the matches.”
The final SA team for Paris will be selected in xxx and Tayla is hoping to be a part of it. A philosophical Tayla said, “If I don’t make it I still have years in which to make it. At twenty I am the youngest in the SA team, with the oldest being 37 years old so I still have lots of years ahead of me.”
Another highlight for Tayla was playing the curtain raiser for the Sharks vs Lions match at the Growthpoint Stadium in Durban. “It was such good exposure and made you feel official to play in a big stadium instead of just a sports field. Not many people can say they have played at the stadium.”
At the moment Tayla, who coaches touch rugby at her old school, is taking a break from academics as with all the training, training camps and away matches it makes studying difficult. “I will probably eventually study sports science or sports journalism but I don’t want to just study for the sake of studying. For now I want to concentrate on my rugby.”
“Playing for Club is fun and you have lots of friends, playing for Natal is a different kind of fun as it’s more serious and everybody wants the same goal but playing for SA is just the best. Everybody becomes one big family.”
Photo: Rugby Matters.
