'I just want to actually be good at rugby again' – former player of year Harriet Millar-Mills continues rehabilitation

Injury nightmare does not quite do justice to the ordeal that Harriet Millar-Mills has faced to get back on the pitch. Three knee surgeries and a total of 22 months out of rugby have been endured, but Millar-Mills is back and performing impressively for Wasps.

The back rower’s injury saga began just two months after playing for England in their 2017 Rugby World Cup final defeat to New Zealand.

“I did not know if I was going to come back at all,” says Millar-Mills. “I could have come back and the game could have moved on too much for me.

“It has been difficult. I’m nowhere near as good as when I got injured, just because my instincts aren’t quite there yet. I just want to actually be good at rugby again.”

Although Millar-Mills had concerns about her ability to reproduce her pre-injury form, her experience and leadership has been an added bonus to a Wasps side that is starting to compete with the league’s best.

The Stockport-born No 8 first played rugby at nine-years-old, inspired by watching Sale play at Edgeley Park, and never looked back. Millar-Mills was first capped by England in 2011, amassing 51 caps while also winning the Women’s Premiership Players’ Player of the Year award twice.

Despite the calibre of Millar-Mills, it would still be a truly remarkable recovery if the former England stalwart could return to the international fold. England are not short of options in the back row with captain Sarah Hunter being joined by Vicky Fleetwood, Marlie Packer and Sarah Beckett in the elite player squad.

“My aspiration is just to get a good season with Wasps,” says Millar-Mills. “I’d never say no to playing for England but I spoke with our coach Giselle [Mather] at the start of the season and I told her ‘my aim is just to play well and if an England game comes then that means I’ve achieved that.’”

A lot has happened in the women’s game while Millar-Mills has been limited to anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rehab. The Tyrrells Premier 15s has developed into a high-quality competition, bridging the chasm that once existed between the domestic and international game.

“The game has definitely progressed. The physicality has increased, the skill-sets have improved, as has the kicking game. Players’ tactical awareness and the pace of the game have increased,” says Millar-Mills.

Despite the progress that has been made on the pitch in the women’s game, Millar-Mills believes the rate of development has been rather slower off the pitch.

“People I’ve met don’t even know women can play rugby. How don’t they not know it exists? It was shocking to me.

“The game has grown so much but a lot of people support it because they want to support women’s sport, and then they get into it. We need to get average rugby fans to come and watch it because they know it will be a good game. Women’s football seems to have broken through a bit but women’s rugby hasn’t yet.”

Millar-Mills, like most players in the Tyrrells Premier 15s, has a job alongside rugby. In her case she enjoys being a maths teacher two days a week, reducing her workload following her return to fitness.

“A lot of players choose to be employed part-time so they can concentrate on rugby. You gain so much rugby-wise from it, you just don’t gain financially.

“We need to get to a point where players don’t need to sacrifice their income to compete in the sport.”

Millar-Mills is adamant that there are advantages to working alongside playing rugby. The sense of perspective employment outside the rugby bubble provided has been invaluable, especially during two years of battling injuries.

In Millar-Mills’ comeback season, Wasps have had mixed results thus far. They currently sit in fifth place, just three points behind Gloucester-Hartpury in the play-off places.

Wasps found form last weekend putting in an emphatic performance against Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, beating their fellow play-off contenders 45-7 away from home.

“We knew we had that performance in us,” says Millar-Mills. “Darlington actually had a higher percentage of the ball but our defence just clicked and we just kept pushing them back and back.

“We’ve built as the season has gone on, getting better with each game. We are starting to put it together but I don’t think we are anywhere near our best yet.”

Wasps face another play-off contender this weekend when they take on Bristol Bears.

“Bristol have been really hit and miss this season. They pushed Saracens right to the edge and have played well against top teams, coming away with points. But against teams below them in the table they have lost a couple.

“I think they’ll bring a tougher game than Darlington because the mentality of Bristol is to bring the fight for the full 80 minutes.”

A win over Bristol would set Wasps on a collision course with Gloucester-Hartpury and Loughborough in the race to join Saracens and Harlequins in the top four. A loss would leave them with ground to make up.

While Wasps’ top four ambitions are clearly driving Millar-Mills, surely ensuring that her last game in an England shirt is not a World Cup final loss provides extra motivation to push for international honours once again?

“I’ve not really thought about it like that. But I’d say no, my motivation is just to play again. Of course I want to get back to where I was – if that involves England, amazing, if not, just being back playing in itself is amazing for me.”