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Jade Konkel loving life back in action after fearing career was over

Jade Konkel is appreciating every moment she gets on a rugby pitch, having at one point thought she would never play again.

Harlequins number eight Konkel spent 15 months on the sidelines before her return in April, hampered by an ankle injury she described as the ‘hardest setback’ she had ever encountered as an athlete.

But after missing her national team's Women's Six Nations campaign earlier this year, last month marked her return to the Scotland setup as she donned the jersey for their WXV 2 campaign - a massive boost in her hopes to compete at next year’s World Cup.

With the feeling that she is getting back to her best, Konkel cannot help but count her blessings that she remains able to play at the top of her game.

“It feels incredible,” she said. “I'm a senior player now and you never know when your last game's going to be and nobody wants to finish on an injury.

“The fact that I've managed to get back from that is incredible because I know I'm one of the fortunate ones who has been able to get back. 

“I know many players that had to retire based on injury, so I'm very grateful and thankful that I wasn't in that position in the end, because there were fears that might have been the case. Very grateful but that's testament to all the hard work behind the scenes.

“It was really pleasing [to play for Scotland again]. It was just nice to also see the growth coming through, because I didn't meet a lot of players during that Six Nations campaign, so it was really good to see the depth coming through. 

“It's always a massive honour to play for your country, so to be able to do that in South Africa again was great.”

Konkel has kicked straight into gear for Quins this season, playing a vital part in their first win of the season against Leicester Tigers last weekend.

She even managed to get on the scoresheet in the 31-17 win at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, crashing over the line to put Quins in control in the second half.

Quins will be eager to maintain their momentum as they host Loughborough Lightning this Saturday in the sixth instalment of the club’s landmark The Game Changer fixture at Twickenham Stoop.

Marking the start of an exciting period for the domestic game as internationals make their return to club colours following WXV, Konkel hailed The Game Changer as reflective of the rapid growth within women’s rugby.

“I think it's massively important, not just for the younger generation, but just to show how much women's rugby has grown,” she added. 

“I was involved in the very first Game Changer, so it's a massive honour to be hopefully running out this weekend and for another Game Changer. 

“I think what it does for the game is we really put on a showcase, the day is incredible. It really just shows the fan that there’s great fans, that it's a great day out.

“There's always something to do around the stadium and it just really gets that buy-in and we get a lot of support through the rest of the season once people have been a Game Changer because they see what it's all about. 

“It's in the name itself, we want to change the game. From Harlequins, I feel like we're one of the top clubs to do that and we always have been one of the top clubs to do that.

“The fact that we've still continued to actually put on the Game Changer is incredible and it shows that it works as well.”



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