Alisha Joyce returned to the rugby pitch in March just 123 days after giving birth and a week later was named in Wales\u2019s squad for the Women\u2019s Six Nations. The 28-year-old says she was \u201cshocked\u201d to get the call-up after welcoming son Ralphie in November but adds it\u2019s \u201ccool\u201d to be a role model for the next generation of players.<\/p>\n
Joyce was the first Wales player to use the governing body\u2019s new performance maternity programme. The back-row, who shares Ralphie with her wife and teammate Jasmine Joyce, has played only 30 minutes of rugby since returning last month in a game for Brython Thunder where she came off the bench.<\/p>\n
The call from the Wales head coach, Sean Lynn, was not something she was expecting. \u201cI was shocked, to be honest,\u201d Joyce says. \u201cI think I can offer a lot to the squad especially in terms of experience. We have nine new caps.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a slightly different role for me, being one of the older members of the squad now, which is crazy. Hopefully [I can] set an example of what being in a professional environment is like having been here for so long now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce is back with Wales after missing Six Nations and World Cup last year because of her pregnancy. Now in camp Joyce\u2019s son is there with her, essential to her being in the squad, and she says the first four-and-a-half months of being a parent have been special for her and Jasmine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible,\u201d Joyce says. \u201cNothing can prepare you for it really. When he first came it was all the emotions of having a baby initially and then reality set in pretty quick. We have got into the flow of things a bit more now and I suppose we have learned how to be parents quite quickly. We love every single second of it and we definitely wouldn\u2019t change it for the world. I feel very lucky that I get to be a mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alisha Joyce was named in Wales\u2019s squad for the Women\u2019s Six Nations. Photograph: Andrew Boyers\/Action Images\/Reuters<\/p>\n
Sleep deprivation has been a challenge given the importance of recovery in elite sport. \u201cIt\u2019s been the hardest thing to navigate,\u201d she says. \u201cEver since Ralphie came into the world we have split [responsibilities] half and half. At the moment he is sleeping like a dream. The first three months were really hard, now we have him in a good routine.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first three months were a shock to the system. He was up every half an hour. I can\u2019t function like that and go back to rugby, that was not possible. But now he is going down, it makes a huge difference. We can actually function, we aren\u2019t just surviving now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce played alongside Abbie Ward, who was the first England player to have a baby while being a professional, at Bristol added to her decision to have a child. \u201cBeing around Abbie I think definitely showed me that I haven\u2019t [got to give up my career]. Before I would have been like: \u2018I am not ready to put my career on hold\u2019. The older you get, the motherly instincts start to kick in and you\u2019re thinking: \u2018I know I am ready for a baby but what do I do? Do I do it now, do I wait? Do I miss the World Cup or the potential Lions selection? When is the right time?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went through IVF so it\u2019s not a mistake, you have to plan and prepare and it is all very meticulous. That has probably been one of the best decisions we have made is just to go for it. Being back in the game now with Ralphie here is crazy, I cannot believe it has happened, to be honest with you.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have got so many young girls now, how cool is it that they get to see that as well? You can be a mum. Hopefully I can get back to the top of my game and show them that as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joyce is targeting some game time in the upcoming tournament, with Wales kicking off their campaign against Scotland on 11 April, but she also has her sights set on the inaugural women\u2019s British & Irish Lions tour in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wouldn\u2019t even say it was a dream because at the time there wasn\u2019t a women\u2019s Lions team,\u201d she says. \u201cIt would be so cool. Trying to get back to the top of my game and if it comes, it comes. It\u2019s an incentive, anyone who said they didn\u2019t want to do it would be lying.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alisha Joyce returned to the rugby pitch in March just 123 days after giving birth and a week…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":578962,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-578961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=578961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/578961\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/578962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=578961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=578961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=578961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}