Maddie Feaunati: Therapy After Winning the World Cup

Maddie Feaunati says she went into therapy after helping England win the World Cup, not because she felt sad, but because she felt confused.

"After the World Cup, I'm happy to say I got into therapy because I was so confused," Feaunati said, speaking a year on from the final. "It was the first time that I had sat down and been like, 'I think I need help'. I'm not a sad person, I love life right now, but I was thinking I couldn't regulate where my emotions were and what the next focus was. I was overwhelmed."

The back rower was 23 when the Red Roses lifted the trophy last September. Born in Leeds and raised in New Zealand, she only took up rugby seriously during the Covid pandemic and committed to England at the start of 2024. The comedown came once she was back at Exeter, her club side.

"I loved my therapist," she said. "Sometimes you forget that sport isn't your whole life. Maybe there were a few things in my personal life that I hadn't quite dealt with. But I think I understand myself and who I am a whole lot more now. When I'm not on that scale and I'm losing myself a little bit, I know what to go back to."

She also said the idea of seeking help without being in crisis was not one she grew up with. "I don't know how encouraged that was when I was younger. It was always, 'if you need help, go and get help'... but I didn't need help."

Feaunati framed the decision as routine rather than a low point, which may say more about how the current group of Red Roses talk about mental health than any single result on the field. For a squad defending a World Cup, that shift could matter as much as anything they do with the ball.