Alisha Joyce returned to the rugby pitch in March just 123 days after giving birth and a week later was named in Wales’s squad for the Women’s Six Nations. The 28-year-old says she was “shocked” to get the call-up after welcoming son Ralphie in November but adds it’s “cool” to be a role model for the next generation of players.
Joyce was the first Wales player to use the governing body’s new performance maternity programme. The back-row, who shares Ralphie with her wife and teammate Jasmine Joyce, has played only 30 minutes of rugby since returning last month in a game for Brython Thunder where she came off the bench.
The call from the Wales head coach, Sean Lynn, was not something she was expecting. “I was shocked, to be honest,” Joyce says. “I think I can offer a lot to the squad especially in terms of experience. We have nine new caps.
“It’s a slightly different role for me, being one of the older members of the squad now, which is crazy. Hopefully [I can] set an example of what being in a professional environment is like having been here for so long now.”
Joyce is back with Wales after missing Six Nations and World Cup last year because of her pregnancy. Now in camp Joyce’s son is there with her, essential to her being in the squad, and she says the first four-and-a-half months of being a parent have been special for her and Jasmine.
“It’s incredible,” Joyce says. “Nothing can prepare you for it really. When he first came it was all the emotions of having a baby initially and then reality set in pretty quick. We have got into the flow of things a bit more now and I suppose we have learned how to be parents quite quickly. We love every single second of it and we definitely wouldn’t change it for the world. I feel very lucky that I get to be a mum.”
Sleep deprivation has been a challenge given the importance of recovery in elite sport. “It’s been the hardest thing to navigate,” she says. “Ever since Ralphie came into the world we have split [responsibilities] half and half. At the moment he is sleeping like a dream. The first three months were really hard, now we have him in a good routine.
“The first three months were a shock to the system. He was up every half an hour. I can’t function like that and go back to rugby, that was not possible. But now he is going down, it makes a huge difference. We can actually function, we aren’t just surviving now.”
Joyce played alongside Abbie Ward, who was the first England player to have a baby while being a professional, at Bristol added to her decision to have a child. “Being around Abbie I think definitely showed me that I haven’t [got to give up my career]. Before I would have been like: ‘I am not ready to put my career on hold’. The older you get, the motherly instincts start to kick in and you’re thinking: ‘I know I am ready for a baby but what do I do? Do I do it now, do I wait? Do I miss the World Cup or the potential Lions selection? When is the right time?’
“We went through IVF so it’s not a mistake, you have to plan and prepare and it is all very meticulous. That has probably been one of the best decisions we have made is just to go for it. Being back in the game now with Ralphie here is crazy, I cannot believe it has happened, to be honest with you.
“We have got so many young girls now, how cool is it that they get to see that as well? You can be a mum. Hopefully I can get back to the top of my game and show them that as well.”
Joyce is targeting some game time in the upcoming tournament, with Wales kicking off their campaign against Scotland on 11 April, but she also has her sights set on the inaugural women’s British & Irish Lions tour in 2027.
“I wouldn’t even say it was a dream because at the time there wasn’t a women’s Lions team,” she says. “It would be so cool. Trying to get back to the top of my game and if it comes, it comes. It’s an incentive, anyone who said they didn’t want to do it would be lying.”
