sport news Brown tried firefighting, athletics and diving before finding rugby... now ... trends now
Shaunagh Brown has done more in her 32 years to date than most do in a lifetime.
This week, the England forward will add another achievement to what is already a remarkable CV when she represents her country at a World Cup.
It is something Brown never thought would be possible. As a mixed-race child from a single- parent family in Peckham in south London, rugby was not something that even crossed her mind growing up.
But this is a woman who has never let anything get in the way of what she wants. Brown’s career to date has been just extraordinary. Her list of roles prior to becoming a professional rugby player reads: commercial diver, heating engineer, fire fighter, hammer thrower and boxer.
Rugby was something that Shanaugh Brown did not even think about growing up
‘I don’t generally have a plan,’ Brown said. ‘I just go with the flow and what happens... happens!’
Brown is also a passionate voice on issues such as race and equality. When her team-mates have stayed silent, she has been one of the few Red Roses players willing to engage on the debate of transgender players in rugby.
‘I do commercial appearances and go out to rugby clubs and schools to talk about my message. The main thing is female empowerment,’ Brown said.
The England forward will add another achievement to what is already a remarkable CV this week
‘I remind people they can do whatever they want, but sometimes to do it you have to make changes on your own. I’m a classic case of that in terms of all the sports I’ve played.’
Brown represented England in the hammer at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, but she fell out of love with the sport. Careers in commercial diving and fire fighting followed.
‘A lot of my diving work was in the Thames – you literally couldn’t see anything,’ Brown said.
‘I had heard stories of seals in the Thames and that they eat people! I thought I’d hear them coming, but I found out it was a guy just tapping the boat above.
‘It was not a glamorous job at all, you would come out filthy.
‘But if a diving job came up when I finish playing rugby, I would probably take it.
