OURFC’s number 11 Lily Phillips graduated from the club this year, but did not hang her boots up after Varsity - instead, Phillips continued to pursue her rugby career, going straight from wearing the Dark Blue to the Rose. This summer, she started for the esteemed England Deaf Squad and earned her first International Cap.
Image description: Phillips wearing England kit amongst her teammates, singing the national anthem ahead of their match against R10C Ladies in Johannesburg.
Phillips first went to trial for EDRU in March 2024 and was soon after asked to play for and train with them soon after. Due to a broken ankle suffered playing 7s for OURFC in Toulon in April, she was unable to make her debut until the first game of the team’s South Africa series. This took place against R10C Ladies in Johannesburg, a tough outfit of South African professionals who they faced again later in the tour. Phillips donned the #11 shirt to represent the Red and White.
Blues teammate Lilla Berry interviewed her about her experiences playing for the England Deaf Rugby Union Women.
What was it like playing on a team with all deaf/partially deaf players? Did it take you a while to adjust?
It was a lot easier playing on a team of Deaf players. I was born fully deaf in my left ear, so have no sound awareness (i.e., I can’t tell were sound comes from); I find it really difficult to hear where people are shouting from. Playing on a team with other Deaf players made this a lot easier as everyone understood what it feels like to play rugby with Deaf so communicate in a different way (through hand signals as well as saying where they were on the pitch).
We were playing against fully-hearing teams, which definitely gave them a bit of an advantage because they could alert each other to where they were on the pitch and where they needed one another to be, more quickly than we could. But as the matches went on we became more well-drilled, and more accustomed to playing in the conditions that we were. It was an incredible learning experience, and nothing like I’d ever done before.
Image description: Phillips in the white shirt and shorts of England, holding the ball and running forwards during the match.
What were the benefits of playing on a deaf side? What did you learn?
Playing with a deaf team was amazing - I had never met other deaf people so was really exciting to meet a group of girls that were all facing the same sort of challenges. I learned a lot of new sign language and different ways of communicating on the rugby pitch.
How has your OURFC journey led you to this moment and what are your plans for the future?
OURFC is where my rugby really grew. I started in the Panthers Squad for my first year and made my way up to the Blues, always learning so much and making so many close friends as I did.
I played a couple of seasons of rugby before coming to OURFC, so I knew the basics. I think what really improved during my time at university was my technical knowledge of the game. And my ability to communicate and lead on the pitch - I really feel like I found my voice at OURFC. Communication is obviously so important playing in a deaf team, and works in different ways, so I’m glad I’ve had my time at Oxford refining this skill.
I’m on a gap year at the moment, so am spending most of my time travelling around, but once I get settled my first priority is finding a rugby team. Luckily the recent OURFC women alumni group is so strong, and there are so many of us around the country recommending new clubs, so there’ll likely be Dark Blue friends wherever I go.
Image description (left to right): Phillips with friend Sammy Hart, EDRU's scrum half; Phillips in OURFC's Dark Blue kit in her headshot; and both EDRU wingers: Phillips in the 11 shirt, and Molly Gill in the 14 shirt.
OURFC wishes Lily the absolute best of luck with her future endeavours and rugby career, and we certainly hope to see her again at Major Stanley’s.
Commenti