Tamara Taylor had an inauspicious start to her 100th Test for England, against Wales at Cardiff Arms Park in 2017.
“I remember running out alone holding the fluffy Lion you get for special caps,” Taylor told RugbyPass. “There was no announcement, so the Welsh crowd thought I was just some random player. They booed me and I thought, this is horrific.”
The lock, a commanding presence in the English forward pack, was often out on her own achieving longevity and excellence few have matched.
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She played 115 Tests (92 wins) between 2005 and 2019, representing England at the 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2017 Rugby World Cups – winning the coveted trophy in 2014.
In 2015, she captained England in the Six Nations and two years later was named Rugby Players Association Player of the Year.
Such accolades were accomplished with a modesty that could be mistaken for self-doubt. Withstanding a lukewarm reception and drab weather conditions, February 11, 2017, was a bright day. England thrashed Wales 63-0.
“We played a good game and scored some great tries. I remember being made to feel special by the girls who presented me with cards, messages and presents,” Taylor said.
“It was one of the most overwhelming times I’ve had in an England jersey. It was special seeing that people valued me.”
Taylor was born in Exeter in the south-west of England but much of her childhood was spent in Zambia and Botswana. Father Mike worked for Clover Chemicals and Mum Teresa was a physical education teacher who represented the Zambian golf team.
Tamara is close to her older brother Jason, who she followed into rugby.
“He tried to get rid of me. I was the annoying little sister who followed him everywhere,” Taylor laughed.
“When we moved back to England, I ended up at an all-boys school that turned co-ed. I was the only girl in my year, so I did whatever the boys did.
“My first organised game of rugby was for Henley against an Under-18 team from the town across. We had communal showers afterward and I was standing there thinking, ‘Shall I take my clothes off?’ I had seen some old girls in the nude, so I went in completely naked while the Under-18s stood there with their undies on.
“I started on the wing like most small girls do. When you think about it, it’s ridiculous as the wing involves a lot of pressure situations. When I got bigger and knew what I was doing I moved into the centres.”
Henley coaches Jerry Edwards and Scott Perkin eventually moved Taylor into the forwards. She admits she had “little idea” of what she was doing but felt more “involved”.
In her first year playing No.8 Taylor was selected in the England students’ team and was involved in an Academy set up. She also competed in the Super 4 trials.
“They picked four teams of the leading women in the country, and you’d play over a couple of weekends in a tournament format,” she recalled.
“You weren’t always in the same team or position; things were mixed up. It was amazing being a young gun playing with and against seasoned internationals.”
A brief stint with England A further reinforced Taylor’s growth. Soon travel and studying Biomedical Sciences in Newcastle would take priority.
That changed in 2005 when she received a surprise phone call from England coach Geoff Richards.
“I’d just come out of a cast. I broke my hand, but Geoff invited me to an England trial. I wasn’t very fit but how could I turn it down?” Taylor reflected.
A successful trial saw Taylor selected for England’s tour of New Zealand. “Terrifying” was how she described her debut.
“The Black Ferns smashed us in the first Test at Eden Park. Physically we were annihilated. The next day we were supposed to have a day off, but we got summoned to do analysis and it was quite an angry meeting with a lot of blame being thrown around. I remember thinking I’d never get a cap,” she added.
“I got picked on the bench for the second Test in Hamilton. I was on the physio table fretting before the game and the physio said, ‘You’ll be right, channel that inner Lion’. I got on with about 20 minutes to go. I tried not to do anything wrong. We lost, but we did close the gap.”
Prop Rochelle Clark is a fellow English centurion. She first played with Taylor at Henley and was quick to notice Taylor’s prowess in the lineout.
“I remember lifting her in a lineout and she ended up like a starfish, just mounting on me. She quickly became an absolute world-class lineout technician. Her ability to read opposition play and manage overcrowded, well-defended lineouts is without peer,” Clark said.
The ability to master lineouts helped Taylor cement a place in the England team. She was exceptional at the 2006 World Cup.
England narrowly lost the final to New Zealand in Edmonton, a match Black Ferns World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Anna Richards described as “the toughest game she played”.
From February 2007 to February 2009 England went unbeaten in 23 consecutive Tests. Surprisingly, though, Taylor felt she didn’t have a complete foothold in the roster.
“I always wrote the dates of games in my work calendar but never booked the time off until I was picked. I didn’t want to jinx anything,” Taylor admitted.
“I played some of my best rugby in 2007 and 2008 until I ruptured my ACL. I came back against Wales in 2009 and played the second half against New Zealand at Twickenham. We played after the All Blacks thrashed England.
“Some of the crowd stayed around and when we started doing well it created an enthusiasm for the women’s game which didn’t exist before.”
England toppled the Black Ferns 10-3, New Zealand’s first loss in eight years and 24 matches. The Red Roses, playing in front of a record crowd of 12,500, were in impressive form, scoring the only try of the match courtesy of skipper Catherine Spencer.
The Bristol No.8, on her 50th cap, also went on to win the Player of the Match award. Vice-captain Katy Daley-Mclean also kicked a conversion and a second-half drop goal.
The momentum of that success carried over into the 2010 Rugby World Cup hosted by England. The Red Roses were imperious in pool play scoring more points than any other country en route to the decider against the Black Ferns.
Unfortunately, the Black Ferns would exact revenge by 13-10 despite conceding three yellow cards.
“It was absolutely heartbreaking; it was supposed to be our time. A few girls retired after that, and I was gutted for them and all the support we had. We were going to have a trophy tour, the works,” Taylor said.
“There was a lot of pressure on us when you think about it and New Zealand was amazing. I cried for a long period after that game, but we needed to regroup and go again.”
Between February 2011 and February 2013, England won 23 out of 25 Tests. Taylor started in five victories against New Zealand. In 2012 she earned her 50th cap against Italy.
“There had been a load of snow, and the game had to be moved to an artificial pitch at Stadio Carol Androne in Recco, Genoa. We drove for four hours, leaving behind many stranded spectators who couldn’t make it there,” Taylor recalled.
“I was only allowed to play 40 minutes, as it was my first game back after dislocating my ankle. The presentation of my cap was in the clubhouse afterwards. It was quite small, and everyone was crammed in. I couldn’t get from my seat to coach Gary Street, so it was sort of half-handed down the line to me.”
Canada would hand England a mighty fright at Rugby World Cup 2014 in France. Following convincing victories against Samoa (65-3) and Spain (45-5) Canada held England to a draw in the last group game.
“We had an awful game, dropped the ball, ill-discipline. If a forward pass hadn’t been brought back, we would have lost. Physically it was the toughest Test I played besides the 2017 World Cup semi win against France,” Taylor said.
New Zealand fared even worse, missing the semi-finals after a shock defeat to Ireland who England dispatched 40-7 in the last four to earn a rematch against Canada in the decider.
“Everything clicked in the Ireland game. We mauled when we were supposed to, and involved the backs when we were supposed to. It was one of those games where you can see the flow as it’s happening. You never get two of those games in a row,” Taylor observed.
England enjoyed most of the possession and territory in the final, but Canada took half an hour to crack. The BBC reported:
“It was only when [Danielle] Waterman was freed, following good work by [Maggie] Alphonsi and second row Tamara Taylor, that England finally crossed for their first try.”
An 11-3 advantage at half-time was closed to 11-9 with 20 minutes remaining. With 11 survivors from the 2010 World Cup, England found another level, and an Emily Scarratt try with six minutes left sealed victory.
“When the final whistle went, relief was all I felt. Thank God, we haven’t thrown it away. The elation only came later,” Taylor said.
So did receptions with politicians and rock concerts.
Taylor was appointed captain of England in 2015 following a mass exodus of experience. Her expertise in the lineout provides a profound insight into her durability.
She said: “Lineouts have a lot more movement in them now – analysis has improved and there’s more access to footage which means teams can’t always rely on basic movements, you need to have dummy movements and slight variations on your normal throws.
“Locks aren’t the only jumpers now. There has been less emphasis on locks having to be jumpers. More teams are putting taller, heavier players into the second row to add weight and power to the scrum and using them as lifters in the lineout.”
Taylor earned her 100th Test cap in 2017, the only year she was a professional for England. Fittingly she was on the committee that helped organise professional contracts for English players after the World Cup – a tournament in which England led the final at half-time against New Zealand but couldn’t hang on.
She identified Black Fern Vicki Heighway (32 Tests, 31 wins) and Ireland’s Marie Louise Reilly as her toughest opponents.
Domestically, Taylor was loyal to the DMP Sharks for over a decade. In 2006 they were relegated from the Premiership for a technicality and played championship rugby for three years. The season they were promoted back into the Premiership they achieved their highest-ever placing of third.
She was also a player/coach with Saracens, winning a Premier 15s championship. The long-time teacher had previously assisted the Worcester Warriors and has also coached the Swedish national team. Today she is a National programmes coach developer for the RFU.
