Linda Djougang on next steps, contracts and balancing rugby and nursing

The Ireland prop is unsure if she's heading back to France after the tour to Japan.

Fri, 02 Sep, 2022 - 07:10

Brendan O'Brien

If the recent women’s summer tour to Japan was a huge leap forward for Irish rugby then Linda Djougang and the rest of Greg McWilliams’ squad have returned to something of a holding pattern.

The 26-year old prop spent last season with ASM Romagnat in France, leaving her full-time job as a nurse to do so, and since which the IRFU has announced 43 professional contracts for the women’s XVs and sevens sides.

That was prior to their two-Test trip to the Far East but Djougang has as yet to hear much more on it and is concentrating for now on some rehab and waiting to see how things unfold.

So, is it back to France, or a return to Ireland?

“I’m not sure. It’s really down to what’s happening in Ireland, what decision the IRFU makes on contracts or not, or the terms and conditions of contracts. I’m not really aware of that at the moment, I’m just waiting, no decision has been made.”

The IRFU has approached the issue of full-time contracts with far more care than haste and, with the World Cup starting in October without an Irish team, it may be next spring before McWilliams’ side sees a pitch together again.

Djougang said last year that it could be “challenging” to balance a contract with a 'day job' but that a part-time solution may be possible. Speaking yesterday, she intimated that one may take more of a priority in the short term.

“I just really want to play rugby. I want to focus on rugby and be the best player that I can be. Contracts, we haven’t really heard that much on it. What the media has heard is really what we have been given.” The failure to make the World Cup remains a sore point but the pangs of regret will deepen when the tournament gets underway this autumn. As it stands, it will be be an eight-month wait until their next game, against Wales in the Six Nations.

If that makes for a frustrating period in the here and now then the long-term picture looks better and Djougang admits that the awarding of contracts is a sign that the women’s team and wider game are being seen and respected like nerve before.

“So, for me, being able to look after my body and mental health with ‘Tackle Your Feelings’, it's so important. Even for the young girls coming through now, this is what it's going to be like for them. It's not going to be any lower than that.

“It's so important that we're able to recover our bodies after two months of intense training, being in an intense environment. They can take this time now to really think about the future, think about what they want to do.

“How do they get themselves to be in a position to be able to go for this position? How do they get themselves mentally ready for the Six Nations because it is going to be tough?” Linda Djougang is the new ambassador for Tackle Your Feelings, with the release of a new video for the #ImTakingControl campaign. For more information follow the Instagram account @tyf or visit the website www.tackleyourfeelings.com