“I trained the day I went into labour”

LES ELDER always planned to return to rugby after becoming a mother; she just hadn’t realised how tough it would be. It wasn’t simply the physical side – she trained throughout her pregnancy in preparation, even doing a CrossFit session the day she went into labour – but the tiredness of being a new parent and the guilt of being away from her daughter, Mihiterena.

“It’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” says the New Zealand back-row of getting back to rugby three months after giving birth. “I was pretty naïve about what your body goes through. I had a good