By Steve Roberts
Contact lenses for sport worn only while sleeping ensured that Jo McGilchrist stayed fully focused on the pitch during yesterday's decisive RBS 6 Nations 16-3 victory over main rivals France at Worcester's Sixways Stadium. Jo is short-sighted and prior to being fitted with overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses, she wore conventional daytime contact lenses for training and playing rugby. Naturally, for a second row forward in a contact sport like rugby Jo was frequently forced to leave the field during matches to replace lost lenses - but not anymore. As she says, "I am now able to play a full rugby match knowing that my vision is 100% and not worrying that a lens might come out during a tackle or scrum."
England Women remain on track to retain their RBS 6 Nations title and are now looking to secure a sixth successive title and another Grand Slam. For Jo this provided another opportunity to play against a strong physical set of forwards but helped by her special contact lenses for sport she proved more than equal to the task. As the reigning champions England had looked in control for much of the game but they were not able to turn possession into points and required late tries from hooker Amy Garnett and skipper Katy McLean to seal the victory. Coach Gary Street said: "It was frustrating because we got ourselves into some good positions but we missed the try scoring opportunities. We lacked precision at times and that was disappointing."
Jo now has the opportunity of playing in front of a big crowd since England Women's next RBS 6 Nations match is against Scotland at Twickenham which will follow on immediately after England's men have played against the Scots. With both the men's and women's teams unbeaten and sitting proudly at the top of the standings with two games to play it could prove to be a season in which England can boast two Grand Slam winning sides. For Jo this will partly make up for the disappointment of losing to New Zealand in last year's World Cup Final and with her overnight contact lenses for sport she knows she won't need to leave the field to replace lenses dislodged in tackles!
Check if you are suitable for overnight ortho-k corrective contact lenses .
