“We Just Turn Up and Get On With It”: Returning to Rugby After Baby with The Maa Maas

With an hour to go until kickoff, the atmosphere was already electric. Volunteers were setting up a pizza van, players’ kids darted around the pitch with my own, and then came one of my favourite warm-ups I’ve ever seen: a full team line dance to pregnancies—but Trish is quick to shut that down.

Man! I Feel Like a Woman!—every player grinning from ear to ear.

In the spirit of the day, I brought along my two-and-a-half-year-old “journalism apprentice,” who happily interrupted our interview to run around the pitch, dance along with the warm-up music, and fully involve themselves in proceedings. It felt fitting—because this wasn’t just a rugby match, it was a whole community.

For Trish, rugby has always been part of her life. She started playing at four and, even through pregnancy, never really stepped away.

“I was training throughout,” she tells me. “Then a couple of weeks after leaving hospital, I was back in the gym thinking, ‘what can I do?’”

That instinct—to just show up and adapt—is something she says defines mums as much as athletes.

“In the spirit of the Maa Maas, we just turn up and get on with it.”

But returning to rugby after having a baby isn’t straightforward. It changes how you play—physically and mentally.

“In that first year, I definitely had moments where I was more scared of getting injured,” she says. “Because you know you can’t just carry on the same way—you’ve still got a child to look after.”

Recovery, she explains, becomes more important. You can’t ignore niggles or push through pain in the same way.

“If you get injured, you actually have to recover properly. You can’t just stay off your feet for two weeks—you’ve got a little person who needs you.”

There’s also the deeper challenge of reconnecting with your body.

“I remember feeling confused by how my body moved on the pitch,” she says. “Everything had changed. It takes time to reconnect to it.”

That process, she adds, is about moving forward—not going back. Learning your body again, on new terms.

Around us, that balance is visible everywhere—kids on the sidelines, players switching between mum mode and match mode, a constant hum of organised chaos.

Of course, there are still misconceptions—especially around women, and particularly mums, playing a contact sport like rugby.

“I mean, lots of dads play rugby,” she says. “Why is it such a big deal for women?”

She’s clear that postpartum recovery is real and important—but so is access to the right support.

“There’s loads of guidance out there now, like the World Rugby postpartum resources,” she explains. “It’s about not rushing it and doing what’s right for you.”

We talk about elite players too. The Red Roses, she points out, have had multiple players training through pregnancy in recent years, and several World Cup winners recently announcing they are expecting.

“If it’s happening in the professional game, why not in the community game as well?”

I admit that watching the pregnant Red Roses training videos on social media made me feel slightly guilty during my own, rather less active

“Everyone’s pregnancy is different,” she says. “Some people feel great, some people feel awful. It’s whatever’s right for you.”

Even for her, it wasn’t always smooth.

“There were sessions where I’d be training, then have to run off and be sick, and then come back and carry on,” she laughs. “You just adapt. You get on with it.”

That adaptability carries into life as a parent-athlete.

“You don’t have time to waste anymore,” she says. “You make the most of whatever time you’ve got. Your focus is completely different.”

The Maa Maas themselves reflect that same flexibility. With over a thousand women connected through their network and hundreds actively playing, it’s a team that stretches far beyond one location.

Players travel from across the UK—and beyond—to take part. Some are returning to rugby after years away, others just want to stay connected without the pressure of weekly training.

“It’s not exclusive,” Trish explains. “If you’re a mum—stepmum, adoptive mum, foster mum—you’re welcome… We do have to draw the line at dog mums unfortunately!”

Watching it all unfold—the laughter, the interruptions, the line dancing, the children weaving through warm-ups—it’s clear this is about more than rugby.

It’s about identity, community, and making space for yourself in the middle of everything else.

And, as the Maa Maas prove, sometimes all it takes is turning up—and getting on with it.