Much of Britain has been carpeted in white this week, pristine and unblemished. The top of the women’s Six Nations table is similar: there is still one white-shirted team with a perfect record and a grand slam in their sights. Should England emerge from their igloos to beat France and Ireland in the next fortnight while their male counterparts falter, it may just bring the increased public recognition that, in several cases, is overdue.
Take Danielle – known to all as Nolli – Waterman. Last week’s game against Scotland in Glasgow was her 80th cap for her country; along the way she has been a World Cup winner and competed at the 2016 Olympic Games. At 33 she looks sharper than ever: every member of Eddie Jones’s backline would kill for her sidestepping ability. Her stunning individual try for Wasps against Bristol last month would grace the flashiest of show reels.
In company with other inspirational totems such as Rochelle Clark, Katy Daley-Mclean, Tamara Taylor and Sarah Hunter, she has elevated the standards of the women’s game to levels barely imaginable when she won her first cap aged 18 – the youngest English female international on record – against Ireland in Limerick in 2003. Since then she has featured in four World Cups and scored 46 Test tries.
All good things have to end some time but, equally, Waterman comes from durable stock. Her father, Jim, played more than 450 games for Bath and, until recently, was still turning out for his local club Minehead Barbarians: “I think he played his last game a couple of years ago which isn’t too bad considering he’s now 73,” she says. “To justify playing he said he had to make at least one tackle, otherwise it wasn’t rugby. I remember watching him three or four years ago. He was playing fly-half and still making people look silly. He just hasn’t got the hamstrings to finish things off once he’s gone through a gap.”
Her mother, Sue, also remains a faithful fan and was in Glasgow last week to watch her daughter score two tries in England’s 43-8 win. Having beaten Italy 42-7 and Wales 52-0 the defending champions are regaining some of the feelgood momentum briefly lost following their 2014 World Cup triumph. “When we played Wales at the Stoop the crowd was absolutely incredible. I’ve never seen that many teenage girls at a fixture. They were absolutely buzzing after the game, wanting to talk to us and have photos taken. To be inspiring those girls is really important for us as a team.”
If anyone is qualified to know exactly how best to continue growing the women’s game it is surely England’s longest-serving international; she is now into her 15th season at the top having battled back from knee and cheekbone injuries she briefly feared might curtail her career. Attracting more interest would be easier, for a start, if the national team’s key fixtures took place in higher-profile slots. This season’s potentially crucial final game between England and Ireland is due to kick off at 5.30pm on a Friday in Coventry. Not exactly prime-time scheduling.
Having represented her country in both a paid and unpaid capacity, Waterman has been on the frontline of the fierce debate surrounding professional 15-a-side contracts. Going self-employed to allow herself extra time for proper rehab and conditioning has made a huge difference this season, she says.
“The majority of the girls have gone back to work and are doing a great job of balancing rugby and work but it isn’t an ideal situation. There’s definitely more that everyone can do: bringing in full-time professional contracts, more people coming to the games, more sponsorship, more media.”
A lively dressing-room argument is also ongoing as to whether 15s or sevens will ultimately be the holy grail of women’s rugby. “There’s a regular debate between the girls: would you rather a World Cup winners’ medal or an Olympic gold medal? It’s a really difficult one.
“Having played both codes it’s very challenging to go from 15s to sevens. At the top level in sevens you have to have an unbelievable fitness base and that takes time to build. In the end it comes down to what drives a person. As I child I thought it would be incredible to go to an Olympic Games but I never imagined it was going to happen. Rugby was my sport and that was where my heart lay.”
Money, though, has not been her primary motivation – “if it was I’d have quit a long time ago!” – at any point. Growing up with two older brothers it was far more about survival. “We’d play two versus one in the garden and there were no holds barred. It was full contact. I had to learn very quickly how to sidestep effectively. There was never any leeway shown to me as the younger sister. It was a case of: ‘If she wants to join in she’s got to be good enough.’ That’s how I’ve ended up approaching a lot of things; it’s stood me in good stead.”
Early in her England career she was also inspired by the commitment and fitness of Sue Day and Shelley Rae – “they were fantastic role models who were also still working full-time” – and the sage advice of the coach Geoff Richards who “brought a professional edge with a little p”. Then there was the remarkable Sophie Hemming, who combined international rugby with working as a vet: “I remember turning up to a World Cup camp in Hull. She’d driven up having been out most of the night helping to deliver calves in the middle of a field. She was absolutely shattered but she was still there at the right time in the right kit encouraging the other girls. I never knew quite how she did it.”
These days many are saying similar things about Waterman. Finding an alternative drug to rugby will not be straightforward – “I’m a very driven person and I need to make sure the next thing I do is challenging” – but first there is a red rose Six Nations title to be grasped. “I think it’ll be a big challenge to go away to France but it’s one we’re relishing. This is the business end of the tournament and I’m really excited to see how we can perform.” Catch them if you can.