The sky is quite literally the limit for Royal Air Force-serving, Wales international rugby star Sian Williams.

Williams became Wales’ first female professional rugby player earlier this year after being granted elite athlete status by her bosses at RAF Brize Norton in Oxford and is now able to spend every day in the pursuit of sporting excellence.

“The Royal Air Force has given me two years off. So rugby is my day job from now on,” the senior aircraftswoman in Logistics said. “I am able to come into the (WRU) Centre of Excellence every day to do my training, rehab, prehab and put all my time into rugby to be the best player I can possibly be.

“I had to go to the elite athlete status board and explain how it would help me and what playing for my country meant to me. I was over the moon when they told me it had been granted, there was no better feeling than knowing I could spend two years devoting myself to what I really enjoy.

“It is a huge privilege to be given this opportunity, I am truly honoured.”

Sian Williams: Wales' first professional female rugby player
We meet Sian Williams, an international rugby player for Wales who has just been granted elite athlete stars by the Royal Air Force, to become the first female professional rugby player in Wales.

With two rugby-mad brothers in the family, all the Wales flanker ever wanted to do was to join in with the rough and tumble.

“I’ve got two brothers, a twin brother and an older brother, who now plays for Wales at Rugby League, and they were both playing from the age of four. I started doing a bit of tap dancing which I was pretty dreadful at so I used to pester by dad to be able to go to rugby with the boys and eventually he let me tag along at around the age of seven or eight and I got involved from there,” the 25-year-old explained.

“I loved the team side of it and I still meet up with a lot of the boys I grew up playing with when I go back home. I think I was the first girl to play for North Wales Schoolboys from the age of 11.

“You’d show up for games and they’d be like, ‘they’ve got a girl, they’ve got a girl’, but after the game parents would come over and shake your hand and congratulate you.”

Dream job

Approaching school-leaving age, becoming a professional rugby player was not an option so Williams chose to go down the military route.

“I wanted to be a professional rugby player ever since I started playing rugby, it was my dream, but there were no opportunities back then,” the Wrexham-born player said.

“Joining the RAF I knew I’d be able to continue playing rugby and have a career on top of that. One of my dad’s friends was in the RAF and was a GB Bobsleigher too.

“I joined up in 2008, when I was already in the Wales under-20 setup. The RAF fully supported my rugby from the start. Throughout my phase two training I was able to continue to playing rugby whereas some girls are discouraged to play sport during their training because injury can put you back or step or two.

“Juggling the two was tough but if you love the game like I do, you’ll do it. Some weeks we’d meet up as a national squad two or three times a week, after working a 12-hour shift, and it was a two-hour drive there and back from my base in Oxford. Now I can spend that time on recovery and training.

“I am at a point in my rugby career where I want to keep learning and keep getting better. Achieving elite athlete status gives me the time before the next Women’s Rugby World Cup in 2017 to strive for excellence and do everything in my power to become a world-class rugby player.”

A true professional

As is the way with rugby, her 'special' status has seen Williams cop some banter.

“There is a bit of banter around it,” she said. “We were doing weights the other day and our captain Rachel Taylor was like, ‘oh, done like a true professional Sian!' They are really happy that women’s rugby is moving in the right direction and everyone has been really positive and nice about it.”

Williams has represented the RAF and the Combined Services’ women’s teams continuously since joining the Forces six years ago, as well as playing for Wales and English Premiership side Worcester. She received her first cap for Wales in 2011 against Scotland.

“I remember the bagpipes going off and it was all a bit surreal. It was after my first game back from injury in 2012 that I got really emotional," the flanker said.

“I ruptured my patella tendon and then broke my kneecap 12 weeks on from that. I didn’t know at the time if I’d ever play again.

“Playing for your country is something you dream of as soon as you start playing rugby. To be able to do that now, and do it consistently, is the main thing for me, there is no greater passion than wearing those three feathers.”

Photo: WRU