Leicester Tigers' Evie Wills: A year on from ACL injury

Thursday, August 8 marks exactly a year since Leicester Tigers and Scotland playmaker Evie Wills suffered a serious knee injury - now she is nearly back to full fitness, is feeling fresh with a positive mindset and cannot wait for the 2024/25 season to get underway.

Wills, now 23, joined Leicester ahead of their first foray into the PWR last summer alongside a batch of fellow Scots including Francesca McGhie, Eva Donaldson and Leah Bartlett and was loving pre-season at Tigers.

Then disaster struck for the stand-off/centre and qualified nurse on August 8 when her knee gave way during a drill when there was nobody else within five metres of her.

All sorts of things flashed through her mind: she had just moved to a new country and a new club and was eager to make an impression, she was set to join up with Scotland soon after that ahead of WXV 2 selection while Scottish Rugby’s full-time contracts, which she had one of, were set to be looked at again soon.

“There is no good time to do your ACL and, I will be honest with you, on that day and when I found out about the severity of the injury a wee while later it was just gutting,” Wills said.

“I have always been a positive person, but that period of time really did test my resolve, especially being away from home at the start of what was meant to be a new adventure.

“I was decelerating in a non-contact training session and I went to change direction and my knee just totally buckled.

“It was hard because when you are injured in contact then you really have no control over it, but with non-contact injuries, you immediately think ‘Did I need to make that movement?’, but of course that is silly and I was probably in a bit of shock and it was really just unlucky.

“Leicester’s medical team helped with the initial assessments and then I headed back up to Scotland because I was meant to be there for a pre-WXV 2 camp anyway.

“Leicester Tigers is such a famous name in rugby and being part of their first season in the PWR with a bunch of other Scottish girls that had signed too was something really exciting to be involved in.

“Obviously then the injury came, but after the spell at home in late 2023 I headed back down to Leicester and worked super hard with Terri [Denham, Leicester Tigers’ women’s team medical and physio lead].

“We worked really closely together for the next six months or so and it was so good to work with her she put so much into put and made sure my return to various things was times just right.

“During that time I also realised, following the step back I’d taken when still at home, that I was so lucky.

“Yes, I was missing a big chunk of rugby due to a serious injury, but I am still young and women’s rugby is growing all the time and I can, fingers crossed, play at a good level for years.

“Also, having a nursing background means I know how much some people are suffering in life and for me the ACL injury has just been a setback and one that I can overcome.

“As I said earlier, I have always been a positive person and I feel like that positivity has been back with me since after the first few weeks of my injury while I got my head around things.

“I’m now back with Leicester getting ready for the season and it is ‘take two’ down here and I can’t wait.”