Year of the Dragon (Rachel Rowe)

The second Wales interview picks up with Rachel Rowe, 76 caps and eight goals, a midfielder who has also played winger and full-back, worked in the prison service, come back from an ACL injury, won a cup double at Rangers and was PFA Scotland’s SWPL 1 Player of the Year in 2023/24 before a season at Southampton. She remembers all of the Dublin celebrations, the FAW gathering for family and friends, a hotel that stayed open late, and a chorus of “Waka Waka” reworked for Switzerland, and says it would have felt like an injustice had this group not qualified. On Rhian Wilkinson she credits a coach who simply wants the players to express themselves. Lighter questions cover rooming with best friend Gemma Evans, Ffion Morgan on the speaker, “Proud Mary” and the irrepressible Mayzee Davies.