Inspiring Woman: Scottish Rugby's Emma Wassell on Strength Beyond the Pitch

Emma Wassell at the launch of Laoch, a film exploring her journey through grief, major surgery and a return to professional rugby.

In elite sport, resilience is often defined by performance. But for Emma Wassell, the past year has reshaped that meaning entirely.

Diagnosed with a 27cm tumour in her chest just months after losing her mother, the Scotland international star faced a battle far removed from the rugby pitch. Her story, captured in Emma Wassell: Laoch — Gaelic for “warrior” — follows a journey through grief, major surgery and an extraordinary return to professional rugby in just 11 months.

Here, Emma reflects on the moment everything changed, the power of her team, and why she’ll never take pulling on a Scotland jersey for granted again.

It must have been a traumatic time finding the tumour, can you tell us a little bit about how that came about? And how difficult a moment was that for you? And how did things move from there?

In August 2024 we were near the end of our pre-season, and it was just a running session that we were doing so there was no contact. I started to notice a tightness and pain in my throat. I eventually put down to thinking I had something stuck in my throat. That evening things escalated, and the pain didn't go away, I took myself to A&E thinking I was going to need to get something removed that had been jarred in my throat.

In A&E, I had various CT scans which eventually discovered that I had a tumour in my chest.

Initially I was in shock, and the connotations that come with a tumour are generally quite terrifying in terms of what my future looked like.

However, from there we had many biopsies to essentially discover if it was cancerous or aggressive and there was a lot that was still unknown. The unknown is probably the scariest part of the whole process.

I ended up getting a biopsy where they went through my rib which was quite invasive. It involved collapsing one of my lungs to be able to get close to it.

After that biopsy surgery I was in a lot of pain and still at that point we still hadn't figured out what it was but we had then been told that the only way to be able to get rid of this tumour entirely was a full sternotomy.

This part was the first time I thought about rugby and whether it would be manageable for me to return to a contact sport after having that surgery. Luckily, I got through that surgery and yeah, then all I kind of thought about was the return process.

I very much viewed it as a rugby injury. I know it wasn't a rugby injury at all, but I saw it like that. I kind of counted down the weeks from the World Cup and kind of set myself that challenge to get back.

The film is titled Laoch, meaning warrior or hero — when you look back at the past year, do you recognise yourself in that word? Or does it feel like something others have placed on you?

When in recovery, the girls called me a Laoch, which is the Gaelic term for warrior. It's not something I would have put on myself. I think I very much view our team as a group of Laochs.

I would not say that I'm alone in that, and I wouldn’t have been able to get through what I have without all my teammates and that includes the wider management group, medical staff.

I've been so well supported so I feel incredibly lucky in a sense. So, I wouldn’t have put that term on myself. This is something very special to me, and I feel very grateful that my teammates can view me in that way.

Your return to rugby in just 11 months is extraordinary — what did recovery actually look like day-to-day, both physically and emotionally?

For returning, my day-to-day recovery consisted of rebuilding my athletic condition.

I suppose it was different in the sense of if I’d hurt my knee, I would need to do lots of knee exercises alongside quad, glute, calf to strengthen my leg. If I hurt your shoulder, I’d be required to do lots of upper body strength.

Whereas in the early stages for this recovery, I'd been in hospital and actually unable to do anything at all for about five weeks. My recovery thoughts focused on wondering how I could improve my whole-body condition and build my strength up in every aspect.

In the later stages, I focused on how I could be prepared to take a level of contact which gave me so much confidence.

Mentally I was strong and reassured by Scotland Rugby who were constantly assessing me and saying this week we're doing this, next week we're doing that.

I very much told my physio if I do something every day that feels like I'm even 1% closer then I’m good and that's how I kind of kept myself mentally positive about the whole experience.

Yes, there was frustration throughout the whole process, but my teammates were honestly cheering me on the whole way through. Although it was hard, I had to be consistent with it if I wanted to make it back in time with the end goal of the Women’s Rugby World Cup. It was worth it every single day.

The support of your Scotland teammates is very clearly a big part of the story — was there a particular moment or thoughtful gesture that stayed with you during your treatment?

The way my teammates supported me in the early stages was incredible.

They would do anything that they could do to help me, way before I could even think about doing any form of exercise. Something that was so rewarding to me is just how they celebrated all my little wins coming back to fitness. From rolling on my front for the first time at the start, to then maybe lifting a five-kilogram dumbbell.

Every single stage my team celebrated it so much and that is just such a rewarding thing for me. They were just so positive and encouraging me, but also patient and allowing me not to put that pressure on myself.

Nutrition and strength have played a significant role in your recovery — did your relationship with your body and food change during that time?

The journey I’ve been on kind of reminded me that I've got that strength, and I'll be able to get back to fitness was probably one of the most special things. The main thing I really struggled with after getting ill was how much weight I lost. I suppose I've been in rugby for over 10 years, and I have a body that is built for purpose to play rugby.

I train incredibly hard so that I'm strong and physically fit. When you have any kind of injury, it is difficult when you lose something that you've worked so hard to get.

I really struggled with weight loss. I didn't recognise myself in this small frame when I lost a lot of weight in the initial stages. That's probably not what people would expect from a woman getting slimmer and becoming more insecure, but it just didn't feel like me. I thrive off being strong and powerful and yeah that was probably the main bit, but I'm always someone who has loved food and loved fueling.

In the initial stages, I had no appetite and I wasn't able to eat the same as before. I struggled with that side of things too. But, coming back, I was so passionate about putting on weight and just eating lots of nutritious food to build my body back up. I have a real appreciation for being fit, and what a healthy body can do for you.

Alongside your illness, you were also dealing with the loss of your mum — how did grief and recovery intertwine for you?

The loss of my mum just six months prior to my diagnosis definitely played a big part in my recovery. Both themes were quite traumatic for my life, in a very different way. A lot of the attention I've had from people outside of rugby and the wider rugby community has probably been more focused on my tumour and my recovery.

In all honesty, the grief aspect of losing my mum was probably the hardest thing I've ever dealt with in my whole entire life. Losing my mum and being able to come back playing from that and also deal with the many challenges that come with grief.

I think this has made me an incredibly strong person. When I went through my diagnosis, nothing could truly ever feel as hard as it did when I lost my mum. I was feeling strong.

It's always easier to deal with yourself, but it was really hard to be able to watch someone else in any kind of pain. The pain came back because of what I was going through with my mum. I already had such an incredible support network that just continued throughout my recovery.

Returning to professional sport after something so life-altering must shift your perspective — do you approach the game differently now?

My approach to the game isn't different in the sense I will still give my everything to be able to perform for Scotland. Hopefully that has kind of been reflected in the sense that it is one of the most important things in my life right now.

The only thing that's maybe changed is my genuine appreciation for having a fit and able body that's able to play rugby, and also a team that I am so passionate about playing for. It’s the opportunities that we have I will never ever take any of them for granted again.

For other women watching this — especially those facing illness or adversity — what do you hope they take from your story?

For anyone watching that can kind of take any strength would be you can sometimes only be as strong as your support network and how important it is to have a great group of people around you and really lean into their support.

We are capable of so much more than you think. If you had said to me at the start of 2024 that your mum will pass away and you will be in hospital discovering a tumour in your chest, you'd say how do I come back from that.

I would say I've come back stronger, a hell of a lot more resilient.

You've just got to take strength in the fact that these life events happen, albeit very challenging and difficult. I know that I haven't even faced half of the hardships that some people have.

There is so much light that can come out of difficult times in terms of realising the relationships and the people you have in your life, but also the appreciation of things that you do still have.

Looking ahead, what does success feel like for you now — is it still about performance on the pitch, or has that definition evolved?

Success for me still is very much around performance and as a team. When I came back from everything, I didn't want to be viewed as someone who has just come back. I wanted to still be viewed as a real valuable member of the squad in terms of performance, experience and what I can bring to the side.

That is why we play for Scotland. We want to win for Scotland. We want to perform for Scotland as well. I’m not taking any moment for granted. I am still so driven to still be a better athlete and high performer for the team.

Emma Wassell: Laoch was produced by Scottish Rugby and principal partners Vodafone, as part of its ongoing commitment to tell the most important stories from all levels of women’s rugby.