When life gives you lemons… One minute you are knocking on England’s door and then the next your career is over. Mary finds out what professional rugby player Will Hurrell did next
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ILL HURRELL IS Oakham Rugby Club’s new coach and they are lucky to have him as until January 2020 he was playing professionally for Bristol; so brings a wealth of experience with him from the elite rugby world. Will was not expecting to be coaching Oakham. Brought up near Melton Mowbray and starting out at Leicester Tigers Will played professionally for many years (managing to gain a maths degree at the same time) and was coming to the end of his contract at Bristol when he was injured, ironically at Leicester Tigers so you could say his professional career went full circle, starting and finishing at Welford Road. ‘Initially what appeared to be a bad tackle and a standard head injury turned out to be much more serious as I’d had a bleed on the brain which meant I would never be able to play again. This resulted in trouble remembering things, I couldn’t sleep and suffered from panic attacks and anxiety. I have slowly recovered and got back into the gym but still suffer from memory problems. There have been long term effects but I can manage it.’ To go from being at the top of your game, literally to losing everything must be hard to take. Will lost his job, his home and lifestyle and had to come home to be cared for by his family. ‘I thought I was invincible and was the fittest I’d ever been. I had been very lucky with injuries, getting very few, but I’d looked after myself, training lots in the gym and doing any rehab that needed to be done, and it had paid off; until that match. But it is what it is and you’ve got two choices; get on with your life or wallow. I’m obsessed with rugby and had been doing some of my coaching
training so really wanted to stay in the game.’ And he did, until Covid came along. Now in this transition period for Will, Oakham have been able to benefit. A very close friend at the club, Peter Rawlinson, suggested that Will come to them for the season and train the boys, and that’s what he’s done. ‘There’s a great attitude at the club and I enjoy running about and practicing skills with the boys. I missed pre-season training (thank you track and trace) so we didn’t start the season that well. But I knew this would be the case and wasn’t worried. The team has only just been promoted and the first three teams we played were really strong ones. The lads have been learning new skills and structures so it took a while for it all to click in. I would have been rattled if we hadn’t won the Oakham/Stamford derby though. The boys had trained really well and it paid off. ‘The amateur game is obviously very
different and the main problem I have as a manager is to sometimes get enough players to make up a team and to get consistency. Obviously everyone has jobs including working shifts or away so it can be difficult to get cohesion. But we’re getting there. The amateur game is played out of love for the game, so enjoyment is the main thing. As well as training and getting fit of course. We’ve got some good players.’ Will is at the club to help put systems in place and build a pathway for the future. He sometimes joins the colts for training and the girls' teams too and is also training Oakham School’s 1st XV. Professional rugby’s loss would appear to be Oakham’s gain who are very lucky to be able to benefit from Will’s experience and knowledge of the game. Watch this space.
54 December 2021 / theactivemag.com
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