Emma Wassell

Emma Wassell
Date of birth (1994-12-28) 28 December 1994 (age 29)
Place of birthAberdeen, Scotland
Height1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Weight78.3 kg (173 lb; 12 st 5 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2010–present Corstorphine Cougars RFC ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2014–present  Scotland 53 20

Emma Wassell (born 28 December 1994) is a Scottish rugby union player from Aberdeen. She made her debut for Scotland's national team in the opening Six Nations match of 2014 and has played in every subsequent national match, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.[1]

Club career

Wassell currently plays for Loughborough Lightning in the Premier 15s league, signing from her previous club, Corstorphine Cougars RFC, in 2021. Her first team was Edinburgh's Murrayfield Wanderers, who encouraged her to try for the Scotland U20 team.

International career

Wassell debuted for the Scottish national team in 2014 in the opening Six Nations match against Ireland and played in every subsequent national match until April 2022, a wrist injury calling a premature end to a record-shattering streak of 54 consecutive international appearances. Wassell played a key role in the decisive 59-3 victory against Columbia in February 2022, booking Scotland's place in the Women's Rugby World Cup for the first time since 2010.[2][3]

Despite scoring in the Women's Six Nations 2021 match against Italy, the team were defeated, as the visiting side triumphed with a 41–20 win.[4]

She was a member of Scotland Women U19 7s squad in 2013, and also played in the Scotland U20 side, which beat Finland earlier that year.

In the 2017 Women's Six Nations, Scotland's defeat of Wales proved a career highlight for Wassell.[5]

Personal life

Emma Clare Wassell first took up rugby at school when she was 15 and progressed through Scotland Women U18s pathway until 2012. Prior to this, she was a keen gymnast but chose to try rugby for a chance to play a team sport, when the coach of Ellon Rugby Club came to the school looking for new players.[6] In an interview for Scottish Rugby, she describes how her father had played for the club before her, although he died before Wassell entered the sport.[5]

She studied accountancy and finance at Edinburgh's Heriot-Watt University, giving her a chance to join her first team, Murrayfield Wanderers in Edinburgh.

She works as a full-time auditor with the firm Anderson Anderson & Brown LLP in Aberdeen. She is currently combining her rugby career with her studies for her chartered accountancy exams. In sports and regional media, she has commented on balancing a professional career in accountancy with a future in women's rugby.[6] In an interview with The Scotsman she gave in April 2021, she describes the intensity of her schedule of balancing rugby and work.[7]

References

  1. ^ "Emma Wassell: The Scotland player who hasn't missed a Test in six years". Rugby World. 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  2. ^ "In the spotlight: Scotland lock Emma Wassell". Six Nations Rugby. 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  3. ^ "Scotland reach World Cup with 59-3 win over Colombia". 2022-02-25.
  4. ^ "Italy thrash Scotland in Six Nations". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  5. ^ a b "Emma Wassell | Moments That Made Me". Scottish Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-04-19.
  6. ^ a b Scotland Women | Emma Wassell, retrieved 2021-04-19
  7. ^ "Early starts, late finishes and using annual leave for training camps: Emma Wassell goes the extra mile for Scotland". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 2021-04-19.