Djougang: Sharing This Moment With The Girls Is So Special

A cornerstone of the Ireland pack, Linda Djougang admitted she felt ‘so much emotion’ as she led the team out at Franklin’s Gardens ahead of their Women’s Rugby World Cup Pool C encounter with Spain.

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Djougang was given the honour on the occasion of her 50th international cap, a brilliant achievement for a player who moved from the back row to the front row on the recommendation of former Ireland head coach Adam Griggs, who said it would open up more opportunities for her.

That was back in 2018, just three years after she had signed up as a complete novice for her workplace’s Tag rugby team. Inteprovincial Championship success with Leinster quickly followed, and she made her Ireland debut off the bench against England in the 2019 Six Nations.

From her early club days at Wanderers and then Old Belvedere, where 2013 Grand Slam winners Ailis Egan, Marie Louise Reilly, and Jenny Murphy provided guidance, the registered nurse – attached to Tallaght University Hospital over a five-year period – has become a front row stalwart for Ireland.

She has made the number 3 jersey her own, having shown a versatility to swap between loosehead and tighthead, and her strengths as a ball carrier, scrummager, and defender. How important a player she is is shown by the fact that she has hit the half-century mark within the span of 51 Ireland Tests.

It is a testament to Djougang’s fitness and durability, and her qualities as a tight forward under three different head coaches, that the only match she has missed was Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to Italy in Parma over six years ago.

“It feels amazing, such an honour,” she said, proudly wearing her 50th cap following the 43-27 bonus point win over Spain. “Especially doing it here on the world’s biggest stage, especially with the girls. Honestly it’s been incredible.

“What a journey. It’s so hard to describe, but honestly, I wouldn’t have achieved what I achieved if it wasn’t for them (my team-mates).

“If it wasn’t for the management giving me my opportunity, if it wasn’t for my first cap, if it wasn’t for this young girl dreaming, and dreaming big.

“I’m grateful to everybody, to be honest, for pushing me, driving me. It’s been a tough journey, but it’s all worth it. So, I’m kind of glad putting this cap on. I was like, it’s worth it.”

Djougang’s World Cup experience so far has seen her play 68 and 61 minutes respectively against Japan and Spain, helping Scott Bemand’s charges to claim back-to-back bonus point victories and book their quarter-final place with a game to spare.

Under the watchful eye of scrum coach Denis Fogarty, the Irish set-piece has gone well in the first two rounds, with a 100% success rate on their own scrum feed (11/11) and four scrum penalties won. Djougang has been a big part of that, backed up by Sadhbh McGrath as the reserve tighthead.

The 29-year-old Leinster and Wolfhounds star dished out praise to her team-mates, and also the young mascot that accompanied her onto the pitch in Northampton, as she reflected on coping with the pre-match nerves and a tenacious Spanish side that gave as good as they got.

“Tough game today, but God, we really dig hard. We just wanted to win and get ourselves into the quarter-finals. It’s exactly what we did,” she explained.

“Even to make it more special, getting my 50th cap doing that. Something that I will definitely remember for the rest of my life, especially sharing this moment with the girls.

“They guided me, they supported me through the ups and downs, from my first jersey to this number. So this is just not for me, it’s for them too. It’s been a journey that we’ve all been through.

“I couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to be able to lead them out. That was so special. I didn’t know what to do. I’d never been in that position before. Thank you to the mascot, she was guiding me!

“She was telling me, ‘go around, do this’, and I would say thank you so much (to her). I’m going to remember this for a long, long time.

“I didn’t know how special it was to lead your team out. There’s just this adrenaline in you, and it pushed me to even want more.

“I spoke during the week about the excitement and everything, but I didn’t really know how exciting and nerve-racking it would be. There was so much emotion.”

Judging by the lusty singing coming from the dressing room after the seven-try triumph, this Ireland squad certainly know how to celebrate individual honours such as Djougang’s, and the team’s progress through to the last-eight of the tournament.

It was 20 years ago this month that she moved from her native Cameroon, at the age of only nine, to live in Rush in Dublin with her father, while her mother stayed behind in Douala.

Despite some difficult times, Linda gradually fell in love with the culture and the country, adding English to her first language of French, and those in the local community and sporting circles – from athletics to rugby – have really taken her to their hearts.

Just like the sisterhood fuelling Ireland’s World Cup journey and the growing ‘Green Wave’. Their close bonds were evident when Djougang was presented with her 50th cap afterwards, breaking into a celebratory dance, backed by chants of ‘Go Linda, go Linda!’, and then being carried shoulder high.

“I think we’re all just soaking it in. The energy is just buzzing, the atmosphere is buzzing. The World Cup is so special, so I think it’s just so important for us to celebrate a win, no matter how we get it.

“It’s important for us to regroup and celebrate the week, the hard work, the hard training that we did, but also enjoy the win. We move on, we go and do our analysis. We fix the wrongs and that’s what we do.

“We’re happy, but also have so much to learn from this game. It wasn’t easy, so we enjoy today and then focus on next week because we know what’s ahead of us,” she added, already looking forward to next Sunday’s showdown with New Zealand in Brighton.