FOLLOWING IN DAD’S FOOTSTEPS
IN MATCHING red shirts, with the three feathers on proud display, a curlyhaired little girl with rugby ball in hand sits alongside her father as they happily smile for a portrait. She’s wearing her dad’s Wales rugby cap.
They say a picture speaks a thousands words, and the first in a selection of three incredibly special family photographs does just that for Wales fly-half Robyn Wilkins and her father, Gwilym.
The sport was always destined to have a huge bearing on Robyn’s life, being the daughter of the Bridgend and Aberavon stalwart, himself an exWales international.
He enjoyed a distinguished career on the wing, and earned an international cap against Tonga back in 1994 alongside the likes of Neil Jenkins and Gareth Llewellyn.
“I watched dad play rugby and I guess I wanted to follow in his footsteps”, the 24-year-old fly-half/ centre recalls.
“I remember growing up, we had one of his games – I was a mascot – so we had that taped on the old-school video player.
“I had that game, and the 1999 World Cup final, and I remember even at the age of six years old, I used to watch those all the time.
“I don’t know why, I never got bored of it.”
Bridgend-born Robyn, who now balances rugby with teaching science, started playing herself around the age of seven.
“I was really fortunate there were teams around that allowed me to play with and against boys. I played from a young age, starting out at about seven or eight in primary school and at Pyle RFC.
“At that age, I had to play with the boys, primary school as well, I also played with the boys.
“When I went to secondary school then, you had to stop playing with the boys so I didn’t play probably between the ages of 11 and 15.
“Then I found out Pencoed had a team, so I played U18s for them, managed to get into Ospreys U18s, we did U18s school games and a lot of those girls now I’m still playing with.”
The second in the family snaps is taken when Robyn has herself broken into the Wales squad. Again in matching red jerseys, they smile for the camera and hold the first picture in a frame as the moment is captured – and this time, her dad is wearing her cap.
Robyn’s first cap for Wales came at the age of 18, against Italy back in 2014.
“That first cap still feels like yesterday, it’s gone really quick.
“Rugby is everything to me, whether it’s playing myself or watching the men.
“I wouldn’t know a life without rugby. I’m a really passionate rugby fan and I’m just really fortunate I’m in a position where I can also put on the jersey – it’s something I don’t take lightly.”
On Sunday, Robyn lined up at No 10 against Ireland as the most-capped player in the side – with 45 international appearances under her belt.
It’s the Llandaff North and Cardiff Blues player’s seventh Six Nations Championship.
“The joke is I’m one of the oldies. I’m adamant I’m still one of the youngsters but I think I’m over the average age now, but definitely one of the older heads, especially with all the youngsters coming through.
“I’ve really enjoyed my time but at my age now, I think I’ve matured and I’m taking more of a leadership role this year. Hopefully I can lead by example.”
In the second fixture of the campaign this weekend, Wales will be looking to get their series back on track following a narrow 19-15 defeat to Italy last weekend in challenging conditions, facing Ireland at Donnybrook’s Energia Park on Sunday before France come to the Welsh capital in round three.
And the wise Wales head will be tapping into her father’s expertise again ahead of the crunch encounter, with her mum Judith and dad her biggest fans.
“My dad tries to step away a little bit, but we have phone calls before a game and I usually ring home to talk to both of my parents,” she explains.
“It’s really useful to be able to have a debrief after the game, dad has a lot of knowledge coming from a rugby background.
“But just from growing up, they were the ones taking me to games and training sessions so I wouldn’t be where I am without their support through those years.”
The third father-daughter snap, a selfie taken inside the Principality Stadium, depicts Robyn in her matchday Wales jersey and her father proudly beaming back at the camera, wearing a Welsh flag scarf: roles reversed from the childhood photo.
Given how much rugby was a part of her life as a youngster, it’s no surprise she’s managed to encompass some coaching into her job as science teacher at Newport’s Bassaleg Comprehensive School.
“Bassaleg have been great with rugby. I’m so lucky to have such a supportive head teacher and science department”, the biomedical science graduate explains.
“It gives you something to talk about with the pupils. You’re not just Miss Wilkins the teacher, you’ve actually got a life outside school and I think that helps bond and can build those relationships that you really need with the pupils.
“They’ll be the first ones to mention on a Monday morning how the game has gone, or when selection’s come out, they’ll be the first ones – they probably break the news to me! They can be cheeky – if I’ve done anything wrong they’ll be the first to pick it out, or if I’m maybe on the bench or not playing at all! It’s just banter, really.”
School is the Monday to Friday job, then there’s Wales training at the Vale on Tuesdays and Thursdays to fit in, and perhaps an extra session with sevens, too. Monday and Wednesday nights are for the gym, with a team run on a Saturday and matches on Sunday.
Friday is the only night off.
It’s a busy schedule, but Robyn, who used to travel between hospitals in Birmingham and Wales as a medical rep selling radioactive substances to their nuclear medicine departments, says she wouldn’t change it.
“It’s the perfect job to go alongside playing, and international sport. You can get away early to get to training, but you’re in the perfect place to inspire the pupils as well. They really like having a chat about the rugby.
“You don’t stop. Maybe Friday night will be nice and chilled before the team run.
“It keeps me busy, I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Fans can visit wru. wales/waleswomen for tickets for Wales Women’s next two home games – against France on Sunday, February 23, and Scotland on Sunday, March 15.