Financial advisor and Leicester Tigers flanker - How Roisin McBrien is Powered Differently

Roisin McBrien hasn’t always found it easy to juggle rugby and her career. 

The Leicester Tigers back rower now splits her time between a career on the pitch and her work in the financial services but when she was playing for the then Worcester Valkyries, she struggled to find the balance.

“I had a different job at the time, and I just wasn’t really enjoying it,” the 24-year-old said.

“I was too young. I was struggling a lot with balancing that life and rugby. 

“I took a step back and I went back and went to my local club, and it was a step down, but I found my love for the game again.

Having achieved harmony between the demands of her work and training with Tigers, McBrien discovered her passion for the game again. 

And that balance is helping McBrien excel on the field, and at her desk, where she helps people with their financial goals. 

“To be good at my job, you have to have good communication,” she said. “We speak to customers, to financial advisers and you have to be able to be able to communicate what you are asking for.

“You have to have an attention to detail. I do think that comes into rugby. 

“I’m very detail focused. I love knowing exactly what I should be doing.  “If I’m running a lineout, I want people in the exact right spot. I want people jumping in the right spot. I want everything to go perfectly.” 

“Because I work in a team as well, we all have to work together, which is just like rugby.  

“You have to make sure everything you’ve done is clear. You have to have that communication with the other people in the team. 

“It’s communication, it’s listening, it’s talking. In rugby, that’s massive.”

McBrien’s story is one of nine being told this week as part of a new campaign from Premiership Women's Rugby called Powered Differently which focuses on just a few of the superhuman players across the league

Alongside McBrien the campaign features players like doctor Simi Pam at Bristol Bears, marine conservation student Freya Aucken at Harlequins and solicitor Lizzie Goulden.

The openside think her specialities in life make her a better player, pulling from all areas of her being to push herself in the game.

“I think you have to be a special kind of person to be an openside,” she said. “You have to put your head in places where most people wouldn’t want to put their heads. 

“I think I love the balance of being in the thick of it and then the calm moments and straight back into the thick of it again.”

“My personal traits that make me a good openside is that I’m small. 

“When I was younger and smaller than I am now, I really had to focus on technique and nail it down.” 

“To be a good openside, you have to be a good tackler. 

“I had to work on my body shape over the ball because I am small, and I probably am quite easy to get off the ball.”

McBrien will be hoping to use every inch and aspect of her technique to propel Leicester Tigers this season as they first face defending champions Gloucester-Hartpury.