Rugby

Image 1 of 5. Judy Bobbett with her Elite Championship gold medal and her coach Trevor McMahon from Liberty Boxing Club in Bray.

To come to terms with that reality takes a bit of a struggle although I wouldn't say it was particularly hard for me, not in the rugby circle I was in. I did give out to her for asking me that because I probably only came to realise all that was involved a year earlier so 12 months on from that I came out. "I kept that up for a good year while I was in the Irish set-up and at that point, that's when I had to call it a day but it wasn't like I woke up one day and said that's it. She took i up in college and joined the Liberty Boxing Club in Bray. "The one thing about rugby, particularly in Ireland but probably in the world, any women's team you join the vast majority are welcoming, so open to the fact that you are gay so that was never a huge issue with me. "I struggled with anxiety when I played for Ireland but not necessarily in the games, I struggled with training, with being in a group. I met people every day but when I stepped away I did notice a lot of friendships fizzled out very quickly, stuff like that was very hard to take. I had to chat to a lot of people before I closed that door and even a few weeks after I stepped away I was second guessing myself and I found that tough because, especially with Ireland, you are pretty much in training every single day. To the spectators, the outsiders looking in it might have appeared like she was living the dreaming. One of the coaches would give me a phone call before training to help me deal with that anxiety and I can't thank her enough for everything she did for me. After training I would nearly be in tears because of the anxiety around the group situations, the pressures." The young Ashbourne woman has moved away from international rugby even though from the outside looking in she appeared to be in her natural sporting environments.