Mud, Maul, Mascara: When fighting for a dream can make you and break you

by Catherine Spencer

Catherine Spencer was the captain of the England women’s rugby team for three years. She scored eighteen tries for England, won six of the eight Six Nations competitions she took part in, and captained her team to three championship titles, a European cup, two Nations Cup tournament victories and the World Cup final held on home soil in 2010, which thrust women’s rugby into the limelight. All of this while holding down a full time job, because the women’s team, unlike the men’s, did not get paid for their sport.

Mud, Maul, Mascara is an effort to reconcile alleged opposites, to show the woman behind the international sporting success. Painfully honest about the mental struggles Catherine faced during, and after, her career as an elite athlete, it is also warm, funny and inspirational – a book for anyone who has ever had a dream, or self-doubt, or a yearning for a really good, mud-proof mascara.

250 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 6, 2020

Reviews

[Melissa]

As a former player of women's rugby myself, although not anywhere near the level of Spencer and her England teammates, this book was one I never knew I always wanted and needed to read. I wish more women ruggers would follow Spencer not only into mauls on the field, but into reflecting upon their experiences in the writing of memoirs. This was an important book for me--honest, straightforward, unflinching. I so appreciated her perspective, her deep knowledge of and passion for the game, her ambivalence over her place in women's world rugby history and yes, her frustration and anger at herself for her errors and missed opportunities, and at the systemic diminishing of the significant achievement and impact women athletes attain, and their treatment as second class and even third class citizens of the sporting world. I still remember very clearly in my player days that the men's teams always played on the "good" field that was ready for use, and the women's team often had to walk the field they were assigned for an hour or more before the match to remove broken glass and other potentially damaging items before feeling confident to take the pitch. I am so happy to see the changes that have occurred since those days, happy for example to see the Wales women's side being paid for the first time in history--but there is so much more to go before women enjoy anything like parity with their male counterparts in this sport; note for example how the men's Six Nations tourney is readily viewable on Peacock/MSNBC, while the women's tourney is only available to US viewers through Florugby, a highly predatory streaming platform with a completely opaque upfront payment scheme and terrible customer service, ensuring that they have a smaller audience because the matches are not as readily accessible. Why not air the women equally as the men on Peacock? "Because they're not as big a draw for the audience," we're told. Well, how do you know? You've never given them a proper platform! I would love it if Spencer's memoir began a movement of world-class women rugby players writing their experiences for audiences and really bringing that visibility to the game. I am certain, from my own experiences, that if more girls were exposed to opportunities to get to know and understand and play the game, there would be far, far more interest and engagement with it globally. Rugby is for everyone, and that's the most important and most central message throughout this wonderful memoir. I am so grateful to Spencer for sharing her story with us.

[Jordan✨]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
This book was amazing, as a female rugby player myself I can absolutely relate to so many of the struggles Catherine faced and spoke about.
Catherine was brutally honest about the struggles faced in women’s rugby back in her time as an elite player as well as currently. I think this honesty is outstanding and brave.
Obviously I did not agree with every opinion Catherine had mad sometimes it felt like she had a bit of a superiority complex...thinking she was better than everyone else because she achieved when she wasn’t getting paid for it? It just didn’t sit right with me.
Overall this book was amazing and I absolutely loved the down to earth, truth telling it was of the rugby world especially for women.

[Tim Tat]

Gisteren maakte World Rugby bekend dat zij een ambitieus plan heeft om dames rugby op internationaal niveau naar een hoger platform te brengen. Vanaf 2023 wordt er een internationale competitie op 3 niveaus met promotiedegradatie wedstrijden ingevoerd. Er wordt een bedrag van ca. 6,8 miljoen Euro voor vrijgemaakt in de komende 10 jaar.
Dat zal Catherine Spencer goed doen, al is het voor haar te laat. Spencer speelde van 2004 tot 2011 voor de Red Roses, het Engelse damesteam waarvan de laatste 4 jaar als captain. Ze won 6 Six Nations waarvan 5 Grand Slams en was twee keer verliezend finalist op het WK. Ze weet dus waar ze het over heeft. De titel mag klinken als een Highschoolfilm op Netflix, niets is minder waar. Alhoewel ze grotendeels speelde in een tijd dat vrouwenrugby niet of nauwelijks serieus werd genomen heeft ze zich altijd ingezet om dat positief te veranderen.
‘Spence’ is in haar rugbyautobiografie niet mals met kritiek op de door mannen gedomineerde rugbywereld waarin zij nooit betaald werd voor haar testwedstrijden en waarin ze vaak overschaduwd door ‘de mannen’. Het ‘doodgewone meisje uit Folkstone’, waar de Euroshuttle aan land komt in Engeland, moest haar hele rugbyleven een vaste baan werken om rond te komen terwijl ze via club, universiteit en county in het Engels team wist door te dringen. Ze wist als eerste vrouw door het glazen plafond van Twickenham te breken en als ‘ master of ceremony’ op te treden na een heren test match en brak bijna letterlijk een lans voor het damesrugby. Ze cijferde haar privéleven weg voor haar ambities, maar bleef haar familie trouw en dan vooral haar tweelingbroer Geoffrey die een prominente rol in haar rugbyleven had en ook in dit boek.
Mud, Maul, Mascara is een absolute aanrader voor alle jonge vrouwen en meisjes die naar de top willen in rugby, maar ook voor mannen en zeker degenen die direct of indirect met damesrugby te maken hebben of krijgen. Spencer is zeker geen haatdragende feministe of lesbienne, verre van dat maar ze is wel heel duidelijk in wat ze wil. Na haar actieve carrière als speelster zette zich in voor de ontwikkeling van damesrugby in Engeland maar deed ze ook vrijwilligerswerk via een rugby charity in o.a. Oeganda, Zambia en India.
Om nog maar eens te duiden hoe vrouwen ten opzichte van mannen worden behandeld in rugby, dit is volgens mij het eerste boek door een speelster zelf geschreven. En bovendien kon het alleen uitgebracht worden door een uitgeverij die door middel van crowdfunding werkt. Wel mooi te zien dat op de lijst van mensen die een bijdrage hebben geleverd zodat ‘Mud, Maul Mascara’ uitgebracht kon worden een paar bekende namen uit het Nederlandse rugby staan waaronder één van onze toprefs.
Dit boek bestel je natuurlijk bij je eigen boekwinkel, zo helpen we de lokale middenstand.

[Harry]

I'm a big fan of Rugby, Cricket and Football and see no difference between women and men playing. I've seen a lot of both both in the media and as a spectator. In fact I was at a rugby game on Sunday between Wasps and Glouscester-Hartbury Ladies.

I remember Catherine Spencer as a player who gave everything for her country and left nothing out on the pitch and so I really wanted to like this book. However I do think it could have been a better book with a ghost writer just to tone down the rather grudgeful aspects of some of the text. The words bitter, angry and resentful are used quite a lot in the narrative and that's a shame because most people would give their eye teeth to pull on their national shirt even once. Thankfully Catherine finds some sort of closure at the end of the book but to quote The Smiths "she bears more grudges than high court judges".

The great bit at the end is the little girl who wants to grow up to be a princess and a rugby player and so for those of you chauvinists who think that rugby is only for big ugly girls take a look at the picture of the Folkestone Ladies team in their glad rags. They are both rugby players and stunningly beautiful. I wish I was there!

[Pheadra]

This book is the autobiography of former England Women’s Rugby captain, Catherine Spencer. It is written by her without the aid of a ghostwriter and her passion for the sport and promoting of the women’s version, in particular, is immediately obvious. It is in many ways a summary of how she became involved in the sport up until the loss of the world cup which scarred her deeply, and her involvement after her resignation in promoting women’s rugby, commentating and giving speeches.
On a personal level, it seeks to show that not all women who play traditionally male sports are masculine, bat for the other team or don’t still experience and desire what women want- to be treated like ladies and valued!
I was more interested in her private life than the descriptions of rugby and though I don’t appreciate seeing women play any of the traditional male sports- Football, Cricket and Rugby, I realised how difficult it must be for women who are passionate about these sports to be taken seriously. I also feel strongly about women receiving equal compensation for doing the same job as men e.g. motivational speaking, commentating etc. 4 Stars.

[Amelia]

I thoroughly enjoyed this brutally honest and eye opening book by Catherine Spencer tracing her amazing rugby life from a young girl through to playing in The Rugby World Cup for England! It was pleasing to find out that she wrote it herself rather than rely on a ghost writer like many other sports people. I came to this book knowing absolutely nothing about rugby and not even following any sport at all. By the end I have gained a huge understanding of the game, rugby life and what it represents for those involved. It highlighted the woeful disparity between support for women’s rugby and men’s rugby. Thankfully the gap is apparently shrinking, but it seems there is still some way to go. The book also follows Catherine’s personal life outside of rugby so it is in fact a well rounded book. I was extremely lucky to be able to read this via the Pigeonhole App, a Stave a a day over ten days. I really looked forward to each one arriving. I can highly recommend this book to everyone.

[Stephanie]

This open and very honest autobiography by Catherine Spencer, follows her career through from childhood to captaincy of the England women’s rugby team, touching a little on what she is doing post retirement.

Catherine is passionate about her sport and also the fact that women’s sport should share the same standing as men’s sports, especially (obviously) with a view to rugby. At times I found the level of frustration being voiced a bit repetitive, although I understand that women’s rugby is probably perceived to be of more recognition now than it was when she was playing, and that this recognition is down to women such as herself pushing it forward constantly.

I was more interested in the sections on her personal life rather than the descriptions of rugby games,

I have rated it a 4 as it was well written by Catherine herself, and I’m sure that others more interested in sport than myself would really love it.

[JoJo Bookworm]

This is the memoir of Catherine Spencer who was captain of the England Rugby Team.

From the way the book as written, I'm going to guess that Catherine is a chatty and fun person, because that's how the book reads. This is both a good and bad thing. The positive thing about this is it feels like you get to know Catherine and understand her emotions throughout the course of the book. The downside is that sometimes the style of writing feels a bit too informal (and too many exclamation marks are used, taking away a bit of the gloss).

I admit to skim reading the section on her love life because, whilst I understand that this helped form her as a person, I couldn't get interested in it, it felt a bit too much like gossip.

I've given it 3 stars. If you enjoy memoirs and you love rugby, you will probably enjoy the book.

[Lynne]

A very honest sports memoir by Catherine Spencer, former England Rugby captain. It helps to have an interest in rugby but is not essential. It reads as well as many other sports autobiographies, that is to say it is chatty. Catherine details the struggle of women for recognition in a man’s world and her grief at just missing out on winning the World Cup in 2010. She considers the single mindedness and selfishness needed to succeed at the top level of sport and the sacrifices that she made. Most surprisingly to me she reveals that she did all this as an amateur supporting herself and paying out expenses from her own pocket.
I particularly enjoyed reading about her work as ambassador for The Tag Rugby Trust which works all over the world. In the last chapter she discusses being a woman in a man’s world, making the point that we need to put our hands up more often. Girls can be princesses and rugby players - the roles are not mutually exclusive!

[Coen]

Compelling story, but a bit too many sour grapes in the book to really enjoy it.

I've read quite a few rugby autobiographies, but this is the first one from a female player - which makes sense, since there are hardly any. Spencer takes a lead role in that too, like in so many aspects of her life.

The part that is a bit annoying is that she keeps repeating the fact that she paves the way for others, but does not get the recognisition for her own work... and then goes on to claim that that is totally fine and that she is proud of her role. However, it is brought up so often with these words, that it becomes an unreliable statements at times, which takes some power away from a further compelling read.

On the plus side, I loved the female voice in a rugby book. It was a breath of fresh air in a sometimes rather monotonous genre. Good to see women's rugby is taken serious!

[Becca Owen]

Definitely worth a read! I've not read a sports biography before and quite enjoyed it.
I will say though that I think Catherine needs to give herself break. I know she is worried she regrets her decisions, but if she didn't make the choice she made would she have what she has now?
She is also an inspiration, more girls play rugby now because she paved the way. Yes, she is allowed to be selfish and I am sorry you did not reap those rewards but more play now!
I don't agree it should be an unpaid thing, life is hard enough especially with cost of living going up, but I do see where she is coming from.
I loved reading names going I HAVE MET THEM! As someone from the home of the game thank you for everything you have done for the sport!

[Mr Michael R Stevens]

Catherine Spencer has written a forthright and honest account of her rugby 'journey'. It might not endear her to the RFU hierarchy but it makes for compelling reading.
The author feels that her lack of a World Cup final win overshadows her career, act as a blight on it. But as you read the story of her life to date you get an appreciation for what she has achieved and what she gave to achieve it..
This is a good read, written with feeling and well worth adding to your bookshelf.

[Sarah-Jayne]

Having started playing rugby at university in 1997 and then playing at clubs in East Midlands and regional level until 2006, I’m not sure I ever played against Catherine. I can relate to much of the discrimination, some intended and some not from men, and sometimes other women. This account made me proud to have been a part of the game in the 90s and 00s. A good read and good to know it was written by her and not ghosted.

[Matt Merritt]

Forthright, honest and unapologetic, Spencer's book packs a punch and her searing honesty at the pain of seeing her peers, the friends she had come so close to winning with in 2010 go one step better in 2014 and win the cup is incredibly refreshing.

[Milly McEvoy]

Incredible book on what it is like to be an England women's rugby player (and captain) which is not a topic you can often read about.

Catherine's honesty in terms of her approach to the game, her mental health and her love life are so refreshing!

[Vicki]

Honest and brutal. An inspiring read that got better and better.

[Heidi]

I'm glad I read it, and I enjoyed how honest it was. But this wasn't for me.

[Samantha]

I enjoyed this autobiography written by Catherine Spencer. I found the writing style to be open and honest, and it gave an eye opening insight into elite level women's rugby in England.

< I read this book for free through Pigeonhole >