Friendly rivalries and baking tips with Emma Sing

The last time Gloucester-Hartpury travelled to the StoneX Stadium, Emma Sing scored a try and kicked two conversions to help the Circus win a third successive Premiership Women’s Rugby title.

Since that day, Sing has turned a rivalry with Sarries pair Zoe Harrison and Jess Breach into a friendship borne out of winning a World Cup together, the duo forgiving her for beating them in a final on their own patch.

Sing will likely not feature in this Sunday's encounter because of a troublesome knee. The full-back suffered the knock to her posterolateral corner against Sale Sharks before the recent break, and has seen Harrison overtake her in the PWR points-scoring charts, potentially denying Sing a third successive crown as the league’s top points scorer.

While she takes pride in her ability to keep the scoreboard ticking over, missing out on that points-scorer title will not matter if they can become the first side to win the PWR four times – with current leaders Saracens shaping up as the biggest obstacle in their way.

Speaking of her friendship with club rivals, Sing said: “The bonds you form with the other players, I wasn’t necessarily as close with Jess Breach and Zoe Harrison but over pre-season and the World Cup, we became really good friends.

“It was quite nice to catch up with them when we played them in the first game (after the World Cup). All is forgiven for the final. At the end of the day, you play against your teammates in clubs and then you come together for your country.

“Kicking is something I do, I’m fortunate to play for a high-scoring team and get to kick lots of conversions. I’ve been fortunate to score a few tries as well. I do keep a look at it but it’s not the be-all and end-all, if we lost the league and I finished top points scorer, I wouldn’t care. Winning the league is the priority.”

Sing’s injury has forced her to cut back on kicking practice as she works her way back up to full speed.

But where that might have long-lasting effects on some, Sing admits that she is in the fortunate position of being able to find her range very quickly even after long periods without kicking.

She explained: “When I started playing for Gloucester, because I was so young, I never really got an opportunity to do it. Ellie Rugman was such a good kicker so she always used to do it, we used to have Sarah Nicholas as well. There was a game where I kicked for posts and the coach asked why I hadn’t been kicking all along because I was so good and I’ve been kicking ever since.

“I was still a student at the time so it was quite a busy time. I’m quite fortunate that at the moment, I have the same process. Over the four-week break, I didn’t kick at all apart from when we came back to training and I did a couple of sessions. I don’t need to do a lot of kicking for it to stay with me. Other people have to do it little and often. I do it little not often!

“It’s my kicking foot (bothering her). I’ve been doing some out of hand stuff and that is the stuff that is causing me problems at the minute. It does hurt quite a bit when you start kicking because naturally you hyper-extend.”

While this injury is a minor setback, it should not have any impact on Sing’s Guinness Women’s Six Nations ambitions, with the Red Roses looking to maintain their dominance in the competition as the reigning world champions.

For Sing, the path to a starting role involves trying to find a way past Harlequins' Ellie Kildunne, one of the heroes of that World Cup final success.

She knows that it will be tough to emulate the wow moments that Kildunne is capable of, instead focusing on her own strengths.

She said: “The style of rugby that we play is completely different. There is no point me trying to be like Ellie because I’m not as quick as her, I’m 10-12 kilos heavier than her so we are never going to be the same type of player.

“It depends potentially on who the opposition is, what sort of person do you need back there to play? I can goal-kick, she cannot necessarily do that. She’s got a lot of flair around her, whereas I am the trusty old reliable. I will do all my bits well, I won’t necessarily have as many flashy moments but I’m reliable, that is what I would say.

“As a full-back, you will be put in bad situations in the backfield, so can you make your one-on-one tackles? Can you distribute to your wingers and release them to score, catching high balls? I’ve got goal-kicking as well.”

Away from her rugby, Sing is the chief baker at Gloucester-Hartpury, regularly baking enough cookies to keep a ravenous squad of rugby players satisfied, while even making sure one of the physios, who is vegan, is never left out.

That is not to say that she has her eye on a Hollywood Handshake any time soon, much like her rugby, her focus is on substance over style.

She said: “I have got a really good cookie recipe, I’ve made triple chocolate, white chocolate, millionaire cookies, magic stars. I did Biscoff cookies with Biscoff in the middle so it was a gooey centre.

“I make a lot of cakes, I made a nice red velvet cake last week.

“I like baking in my house and I make some yummy stuff but decoration isn’t my forte. All the flashy stuff, I don’t think it’s for me.”