Marlie Packer remembers it as a gorgeous August Saturday. Saracens had a pre-season friendly. She was still recovering from an operation, so didn’t play, but spent the day running out the water bottles. They won handily, and afterwards everyone went to the pub. It was the first time the whole squad had been back together since they won the Premiership final three months earlier. “Everyone’s spirits were really good,” Packer says. She had two drinks. “I didn’t really think about it, I didn’t feel drunk or anything like that, I was just in a good mood. We all were.” And then she drove home.
It’s a long way from Saracens’ home ground to Packer’s house in Twickenham and she was most of the way there when it happened. Coming down the Kew Road she saw a car come rushing up to a junction ahead. She was sure it was going to pull out, so she swerved into the other lane to avoid it. Her van clipped the back of an oncoming car, the airbags exploded, and her van smacked into the kerb. Through the shock, she felt certain she wasn’t hurt, so she unbuckled herself, opened the door and ran around behind to check on the people in the car she had hit. Mercifully, they were fine too.
Written by Andy Bull
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jan/22/england-marlie-packer-interview-rfu-rugby-union under the title “England’s Marlie Packer: ‘I thought it was all over. I’d lose my job, lose my rugby’”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
