But achieving her goal of making the squad for this year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand is right at the top of her priority list – it’s something she hopes will, in turn, inspire Jacob to achieve his own goals.
“My long term goal is to make the world cup squad. Although I’m 32, if I make it to New Zealand, this will be my first world cup as I missed one when I had Jacob and I was unavailable in 2017 too. It would certainly be the pinnacle of my career.
“It’s challenging – some days I don’t get to see Jacob after dropping him off.
“But it just makes non-training days more special, I make sure I spend my spare time with him and family.
“It’s not easy effectively having two jobs and juggling family life but I feel if I can show Jacob that hard work is worthwhile, that if you want something enough, you will work hard for it. Hopefully that ethic will push him on with anything he wants to pursue in the future too, he will see that hard work is rewarded. It’s nice to be able to show that as a mum.
“Jacob came in the other day asking ,” Mam, are you a Welsh icon?!
“I said ‘I don’t think so’ and he said ‘well my friend said you are.’
“It’s just nice to see that the younger generation are seeing women in that way and I know Jacob is proud his mam plays for Wales.”
Kerin is hugely grateful for the support her own mother and mother-in-law have shown her over the years.
“My mother has been brilliant throughout my rugby career, pushing me to achieve my goals and since having Jacob, she’s allowed me to carry on playing by looking after Jacob. The same goes for my partner Steff’s mum and my nan too. Without those three I wouldn’t be playing at this level now that’s for sure.
“I’m very lucky with the support I have from both my parents and my partners’ parents too in terms of childcare.”
Kerin played a key role in Wales’ 27-19 win of the TikTok Women’s Six Nations over Ireland yesterday.
“Yesterday’s win sets us up for the rest of the six nations. Hopefully we can keep composure and get some more good results.
“We are already seeing huge benefits of the full and part-time contracts.
“We are getting pbs in the gym and on the pitch, and you can already see a massive improvement in our skill sets. it goes to show what the extra contact time – and recovery time – is doing to help us progress.
“If we can keep pushing now for the next six weeks, we’ll be in a good place.
“Having got an away win, we can’t wait to play at Cardiff Arms Park for our home matches. To have the crowd back in the autumn was brilliant. Our families and friends get to watch and it’s great to meet people after the match. If we can get a huge crowd behind us next Saturday, that will make such a difference.”
