Amber Victoria Reed (born 3 April 1991) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. She won the

2014 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup was the seventh edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup, and the sixth held in Europe. The World Cup Final took place on 17 August. All of the pool games for the World Cup took place at the Centre National du ...

as a member of 's squad and was selected for the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Du ...

squad. Domestically she played for Bristol Bears. Reed announced her retirement in March 2025.

International career

Reed debuted for the England Women's rugby team in 2012 against France, having previously played for the national side's Under 20s team. In 2014, she won the Women's Rugby World Cup with England. Reed went on to play every match in the 2017 Six Nations, in which England won the Grand Slam. She was also selected for the England World Cup team in 2017; the side lost in the final to New Zealand. A recurring back injury that kept her off the pitch for several months in 2018 and resulted in a specialist advising her to retire from contact sports. However, after her recovery and rehabilitation, Reed's international career continued at the 2018 Women's Six Nations. In 2019, Reed won her 50th cap playing in the Super Series in the USA and received the award from her mother. The same year, she was offered a full-time contract by the RFU, having previously juggled her rugby career with a teaching career. She also played in the first England Women versus the Barbarians match at Twickenham in 2019, which England won. She again played for England in the curtailed 2020 Women's Six Nations.

Club career

Reed began playing rugby at 14 when she attended

Colston's School Collegiate School (formerly known as Colston's Collegiate School and Colston’s School) is a private day school in Bristol, England, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It was founded in 1710 by the merchant, ...

. While competing in the Rosslyn Park National Schools 7s, she was selected for the England pathway development track. She played briefly for Thornbury RFC before joining the

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

women's team in 2009. Reed announced her retirement from professional rugby in March 2025.

Activism

In 2021, Reed became an active member of the #icare social media campaign started by Bristol Bears teammate Stef Evans after Twitter users expressed derision and posted abusive tweets about the news that the 2021 Women's World Cup had been rescheduled. She has spoken publicly about mental health in sports and is a spokesperson for 'Looseheadz’, a rugby clothing brand raising awareness for mental health.

Early life

Reed is the niece of former Scottish International Andy Reed. As a youth, she played cricket for Gloucestershire and hockey for Bristol. She attended

and went on to attain a degree in Exercise and Sports Science from the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...

. She was named British University Colleges Sports Person of the Year in 2013. Reed is a qualified PE teacher and has taught at Colston's School and

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private co-educational day and boarding school of the Public school (United Kingdom), British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Amber 1991 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Bristol Bears Women players Rugby union players from Bristol Schoolteachers from Bristol Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres People educated at Colston's School Alumni of the University of Exeter 21st-century English sportswomen