Clapp balances England dream with teaching
Saracens’ ambitious captain is thinking of her life after rugby, writes Fiona Tomas
It is easy to spot the family photo that Saracens have plastered on to the east stand at Allianz Park. Those who approach it train their eyes on Lotte Clapp’s unwavering stare, along with those of Alex Lewington and Nick Tompkins. It is reminiscent of when Manchester City erected Steph Houghton next to Vincent Kompany on the Etihad’s timber after the relaunch as City Women in 2014. For Saracens – the first Tyrrells Premier 15s club to introduce paid contracts this season – this uncaptioned picture of equality is one of two professional rugby players and a primary schoolteacher.
For that is Clapp’s day job. The Saracens captain has thrown herself into her first teaching year at Samuel Lucas JMI School in Hitchin, where she has become something of a celebrity in the classroom.
“The kids found out quite early on that I played rugby,” says Clapp. “It was a few weeks ago when one of the girls told me she had Googled my name on her dad’s phone. So that spread like wildfire. Now all the children have done a Google search on me and found my profile on the Saracens website.” At a time when women’s rugby is navigating the rocky road towards professionalism, Clapp’s prioritising of her teaching career means almost certainly sacrificing England appearances in the foreseeable future. As a result, she was not one of the 28 players to be centrally contracted with the Rugby Football Union in September, but the 24-year-old has no regrets.
“If I was England-contracted, I wouldn’t be able to complete my NQT year so I think it’s a bit of a blessing in disguise,” she says. “It’s something I’ve always wanted. If I’m not lucky enough to be playing rugby in 15 years’ time, I’m going to have to have something that isn’t rugby anyway. You don’t know how long your body will last for.”
Incidentally, Clapp is already acquainted with the demands of professional rugby, having been given a contract as an England sevens player in 2017 which was not renewed after finishing her PE degree at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. She has built up a vast rugby CV for her age, having coached on her gap year in the Caribbean, where she rode an ostrich in Curaçao (“I did crazy things like eat iguana and jump off cliffs too,”), an experience she counts as her proudest achievement outside of rugby.
She initially struggled after switching back to XVS ahead of the inaugural Premier 15s season, but the move felt right, not least because she would rekindle ties with Alex Austerberry, Saracens’ head coach who oversaw a steady chunk of her youth development as a talent development officer.
Has she completely closed the door on an England career? “No, not at all,” says Clapp. “You’re not in control of the decisions. You can only control the controllables. If I’ve been training well, if I’m playing well, that’s my job done. I’m happier when I’m playing my best rugby. I’ll come off the pitch and it will be for me, it won’t be because I know someone was watching that game. If an opportunity comes up, I would never turn it down.”
A call-up is not impossible, either. Heather Kerr, Abby Dow, Ellena Perry and Rownita Marston all earned game time in England’s autumn internationals last month. None is contracted full-time with England Rugby but several fine performances from the quartet this season caught coach Simon Middleton’s eye.
The bulk of those who are professional will go head to head in a titanic battle of Tyrrells heavyweights today, when Clapp leads out her side against leaders Harlequins at the Stoop, the same ground where she first caught a glimpse of her rugby idol, Maggie Alphonsi, while still at school.
Harlequins are a very different beast to sides fielded in previous incarnations of this fixture. They have won just two of the last six meetings against their north London rivals, but, having boosted their squad with a number of foreign imports since running out of steam during the past two finals, today’s rendezvous is likely to be an early indication of whether Saracens are capable of doing the Tyrrells triple.
“I’m not even thinking about it at the moment, because we’ve still got to finish top three, top four to get into the semis before we think about a final,” concedes Clapp.
“It’s keeping that level-headed approach. Yes, we’ve won in the past two years, but anything can happen.”