England legend Rochelle Clark has relived her incredible career highlights and milestones in an emotional video in which she addresses her younger self.
The 37-year-old prop, known as ‘Rocky’, announced her retirement from the international game on Tuesday, 15 years after making her debut for the Red Roses in 2003.
She made 137 appearances for England, surpassing her childhood hero Jason Leonard’s previous record of 114 in the process, and won the 2014 World Cup.
Clark also appeared in every Women’s Six Nations tournament since 2005 – helping England to eight crowns and seven Grand Slam titles in that time.
In what would prove to be her final appearance for the Red Roses, Clark’s last game was against Ireland in the 2018 Championship as England women triumphed 33-11 in Coventry.
And in a video released by the RFU, Clark talks about the highs and lows of her extraordinary career as if speaking to herself as a child, urging her to persist with her dream.
In the message to her younger self, she says: “Dear Rocky, just keep going. Do that extra rep, resist that chocolate bar. Don’t give up if at first you don’t succeed.
“You don’t know this yet but you’re going to live the dream you’ve always been dreaming of and believe it or not you’re going to overtake your childhood hero Jason Leonard’s cap record.
“Your love of rugby will dictate your late teens, 20s and 30s. You’ve got a massive job on your hands losing all that weight and getting fit.
“Don’t listen to those that don’t believe in you. Stay strong, be resilient and committed to your goals. You’ve got 30kg to shift so get your arse in gear.
“It’s not going to be easy, but trust me, when you win your first cap, when you win the Six Nations, and when you go to your first World Cup it’ll all be worth it.
“You’ll learn what real heartache is when you lose in the final, but this will only make you stronger. You’ll change your weakness of fitness and power into your strengths and win more Grand Slams and once again you’ll compete in your second World Cup.
“You’ll be agonisingly close to being a champion, but three points difference means you’ll know that all too familiar feeling of silver.
“You’ll go through the next four years building on the player you are, you’ll love your travel, you’ll love your team, you’ll make lifelong friends with the ‘spiceys’.
“You’ll go through tough times, people will question you, but you’ll prove them wrong.”
Clark, who will continue to play for Wasps in the Tyrrells Premier 15s next season as well as acting as head coach of Chesham Stags, admitted a few tears were shed filming the video.
Leonard, England’s most capped men’s player, also paid tribute to Clark. He said: “Rocky is a legend in, I wouldn’t just say women’s rugby – you’d mostly say it’s in sport.
“You don’t get to represent your country that many times without being something special. She beat my record and it couldn’t have been beaten by a better person.”
