England star Emily Scarratt: ‘I’m basically the manual labour on our family farm’

It was only a few months ago that Emily Scarratt was out in Tokyo collecting the 2019 World Player of the Year award; only a few weeks ago she was helping England towards a second successive Six Nations grand slam. Then lockdown intervened and brought her back to earth, quite literally.

“I’m basically the manual labour,” Scarratt says wryly of her current role, helping out on her family’s beef and potato farm. “I’m not particularly skilled in anything too technical so I leave that up to dad. I’m pressure washing things, moving things… we had some trees fall in the bad storms just after Christmas so I’ve been chopping those up and moving them around. It keeps me active, it’s hard work. I thought I was fit and then I do some of those jobs and realise... maybe I’m not.”

It has been something of a unique lockdown experience compared to most pros. When she’s not been toiling the Leicestershire land, Scarratt has had to get creative, turning a few bits and pieces knocking around the farm into an agricultural gym.

“I’m quite fortunate I’ve been able to build a gym which is pretty comprehensive to be fair, I’m quite proud of it,” she says. “I might keep it once this is all over. I’ve got two towers of pallets which I can then put a bar in between for a pull-up bar. I’ve got two big round bales which is my squat rack, and some random things I found around the farm like two big spare tyres with a plank of wood to make a bench. It’s definitely safe, but I don’t think it’s getting past any health and safety guidelines.

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“I try and schedule each day because I’m better like that, it’s just how I work, but it’s not necessarily always the same. Most days I’m in the gym, maybe three or four times a week and I schedule it around other stuff I’ve got going on. I managed to borrow a few bits so I’ve got kind of the basics, all the big plates so a 10kg and a 15kg. If I want to alter my weights I’ve got to make a 10kg jump, which is quite difficult, so you’re either lifting quite heavy or a bit lighter, so it was kind of hard to get the balance but that is just the situation.”

It might not sound like a setup worthy of the best player in the world right now, but then Scarratt doesn’t seem to consider herself that way. Even when she flew to Japan in November she had no idea she would be winning the big prize, yet she is undoubtedly the diamond in Simon Middleton’s England team. “She can do things that no other player can do,” he once said. “And that includes in the men’s game.”

In her final match before lockdown, Scarratt kicked eight of 10 conversions as England dismantled Wales to close in on another Six Nations title. She was the tournament’s top scorer with 40 points before it was left in limbo, due to be completed in October.

“Obviously we wanted to finish the Six Nations and we were going well, and of course you want to play that last game and get an outcome from it,” Scarratt says. “I don’t think anybody would say any different, but sometimes things are bigger than sport. Often we lose sight of that but it’s definitely the case.”

Scarratt has used the time away from rugby to turn her mind to other pastimes like cooking, baking and a giant jigsaw – “it’s really slow progress but I’m getting there” – as well as taking time to plan for life after a glittering playing career. “I’m going through my level three coaching course at the moment so I’ve got quite a lot of work to do, which I probably neglected over the Six Nations, so I’ve been able to keep busy. It’s different to being outside and being manual – it’s learning, which is different. I like it.”

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The same calm, level-headed approach that sees Scarratt glide through opposition is serving the 30-year-old well as she tries to keep her mind and body fit for the challenge of rugby’s resumption, whenever that day comes.

“I think everybody reacts differently,” she says of the challenges of lockdown. “I’m quite objective about stuff and I think ‘what can I do now?’ There’s obviously other opportunities that this presents and so it’s just about keeping your head down and making sure that you’re getting on with something, because ultimately you can’t change what is happening.”

Emily Scarratt was speaking as an ambassador for Optimum Nutrition. As Official Performance Nutrition Partner to England Rugby the Men’s and Women’s teams use Optimum Nutrition protein powders after workouts.