ABBY WOW. As the Red Roses legend retires, we pay tribute to Abby Dow

The flying down the wing, the tries, the fends, the catching out of the sky. The crocheting, the bad puns, and the world’s widest smile.

Everyone has their favourite memory of Red Roses star Abby Dow, and Helen M Jerome speaks to those who have coached her from pathway to PWR, and those who have played with and against her at club and international level.

As Abby Dow retires from rugby to put her energies into her engineering career – she already has a master’s degree from Imperial College – we talk to those who knew her across her career about what made her special, why she’ll be missed and the legacy she’s left at club and country.

England teammate Meg Jones (bottom, right) has dubbed her “Abby Wow”. And Red Roses head coach John Mitchell has the highest praise: “I personally believe that we are losing arguably the best right winger in world rugby at the peak of her powers, but we fully respect her decision to move on to a new chapter.”

At only 28, Abby Dow leaves with a Rugby World Cup medal, 50 tries in 59 internationals for the Red Roses, and a personality that’s endeared her to fans and teammates alike. Not to mention Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales and England fan, for whom Dow crocheted a bunch of red roses.

Legacy

One of the first people to encounter and encourage a young Abby Dow was Alex Austerberry, now Saracens head coach.

“I was very lucky that I actually worked with Abby when she was coming through as a pathway player. She was in the TDG (Talent Development Group); I sent her a message actually yesterday about it.”

Austerberry beams at the memory. “The best thing I can say about Abby is look at the legacy she leaves, look at the memories that people have of her playing.

“And she did it by being absolutely true to herself. I think you can say that’s a great credit to her.”

Reflecting on her as an all-round person as well as a player, he adds: “She’s a superb human who did things Abby’s way, and what she has achieved in a club shirt and an international shirt is truly remarkable.

“She’s certainly one of the one of the good ones and I wish her all the best in everything that she does going forward.

“I’m in no doubt she’ll make a success of that. And again, do it in a very unique manner that is really true to her.”

Austerberry has only one regret though: “It’s just a shame she never wore a Saracens shirt.”

Unbelievable

Dow’s most recent club was Trailfinders (above), where her head coach was Barney Maddison. Like Austerberry, he has only good things to say of the winger.

“Yeah, Abby’s a fantastic rugby player. She’s obviously an unbelievable finisher, and she’s done a lot for the English game.”

Maddison adds: “Her presence in English women’s rugby has been outstanding. Just massive congrats to her and what she’s done for the game over here.”

He was right there when she decided to leave Trailfinders in the summer, before the World Cup, so I wondered if he saw her retirement coming?

“I wouldn’t say I expected it,” he says. “I probably felt something like that might potentially happen.

“I know obviously, with the industry in which she works, she did a lot of that on the side as well anyway. Rugby was a big part of her life, but then same with her work as well.”

Ruthless

Before Dow joined Trailfinders, she was at Harlequins (below, left), and one of her teammates there was Beth Blacklock, who is now at Saracens. So she knows her well as friend and foe, and finds it hard to sum up such a fantastic player.

“There have been many points in her career where she’s been the best winger in the world,” says Blacklock, “if not one of the best players in the world.”

Blacklock hasn’t enjoyed facing Dow though: “Playing against her has always been horrible because in both attack and defence, she’s just been ruthless. That’s one of the stand-out things that she has as a player.”

The flip side, says Blacklock, is “being on her team is brilliant because to be perfectly honest, I’ve never known a player be as good as her.”

There’s also her unselfishness as a player, perhaps because rugby hasn’t been her sole concern, reckons Blacklock, who says Dow saw the the quality of the team as the focus.

“I think that’s a really unique skill to have in professional rugby, because it’s really hard to get far and not focus, focus, focus, focus solely on your individual improvements and how you’re going to eat everything correctly, sleep correctly, recover correctly.

“To be able to have that holistic view is something that Abby Dow I think is special for. So I think it’s a shame she’s retiring from rugby.

“I think even considering how young she is, she could have developed even more to get to where she was already at the age.”

For Blacklock, Dow will be a big miss for rugby for her as a player, but she’ll miss her as a teammate too. “I loved playing with her to be perfectly honest, a really lovely person.”

Off the pitch, says Blacklock, Dow always comes out with some interesting random facts.

“So I’ll maybe be missing the fact of the day as well! And she’s good for the puns. That’s her social media presence.”

Blacklock’s only regret is that she never received one of Dow’s famous crocheted creations. “When we both left Quins, I think that’s when she picked up the crocheting, so I didn’t personally benefit from it.”

Funny

Dow’s Trailfinders teammate, captain Kate Zackary, she explains how much she enjoyed having the opportunity to finally play with her.

“I’d played against her, and you have that perception of players because you run in similar circles, but we never really got to know each other.

“With my move to Ealing, getting to play with some new players and having someone like Abby come in… getting to spend the last couple of seasons getting to know her, just how funny she was as a person off the field.

“She’s just that person who brings a lot of positivity and energy to the team.”

Zackary explains that just two years ago Trailfinders were a new team, and Dow fully played her part.

“She was that first person in every room to be the loudest, and make people feel comfortable.

“That was such an important role she played for us two years ago, and then building that into last season. She continued to lead by example, even off the pitch.”

Just like her Trailfinders head coach, Zackary says: “On the pitch, as we all know, she’s a great finisher.

“Last year she was constantly putting in extra hours working on her kicking game. And as you saw in the last few months, her kicking game’s come along as such a huge threat, which made her obviously a staple even in the Red Roses on the wing.

“So yeah, I enjoyed getting to work with her. You always take a little bit from people you meet, don’t you? For me, even if you are having a tough day, don’t be afraid to be the first one, put a smile on, walk in the room and try to make everyone do a little bit better every day.”

Along with her outgoing personality, Zackary says Dow has always been humble too, not wanting to brag about achievements, awards, nominations or medals. So Zackary will do it for her!

“You’d be remiss not to talk about, obviously, how many tries she scored, the catches she’s made.”

Then there was the massive setback of the injury only months before the 2021 Rugby World Cup. Dow needed surgery on a spiral fracture, with her leg broken in three places in a Six Nations match against Wales. Her recovery was utterly improbable as it should have taken 10 months, yet she was back in six months, coming off the bench in the opening game of the World Cup to score for England.

“Having also that tragic injury a few years ago,” says Zackary, “and missing out for a while, coming back even better, which can be tough, coming back from major injuries and playing in such a high-profile team that’s competitive.”

And, adds Zackary, “she fought her way back into that starting line-up, and she became a constant.”

Photos: World Rugby, Instagram