Elli Norkett (30 May 1996 – 25 February 2017) was a Welsh

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 who played for Swansea Ladies/

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

and the

Wales women's national rugby union team The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship. Their current head coach, as of January 2025, is Sean Lynn. History As far back as the ni ...

. She was the youngest player at 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 ...

, having made her debut earlier that year in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

Early life

Elli Norkett was born on 30 May 1996 in

Ribchester Ribchester () is a village and civil parish within the Ribble Valley district of Lancashire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Ribble, northwest of Blackburn and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. The village has a long history w ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

. She attended Mary Immaculate

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Primary School in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

Sporting career

Norkett studied at

Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

for

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in sports development. While there, she played for the University's teams which competed in the

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS; ) is the sports governing body, governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2008, BUCS is responsible for organising 54 inter-university sports in the United King ...

(BUCS) women's rugby competitions. In early 2016, she was part of the Cardiff team that defeated

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

to win the BUCS

tournament. Afterwards, she spoke of her home to also win the BUCS

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

tournament for her University, and hoped to appear in the

International University Sports Federation The International University Sports Federation (FISU; ) is responsible for the organization and governance of worldwide sports competitions for student-athletes between the ages of 17 and 25. It was founded in 1949 as the world governing body of ...

world rugby sevens later that year. At a club level, Norkett played for both Neath Athletic and Swansea Ladies, both feeder clubs for

. During the course of 2017, she played for Swansea. In rugby sevens, Norkett represented both

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

students team. She was selected for the

at the

, becoming the youngest player at the tournament. During the course of her career for the senior

squad, she earned four

international cap In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

s. Her debut was against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

earlier that year in the

when she was brought on as a substitute in the second half.

Personal life

Norkett lived in

Llandarcy Llandarcy is a village near Neath in the Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales, and was the site of the Llandarcy Oil Refinery, first oil refinery in the United Kingdom. It was originally designed as a Planned community, garden village to hous ...

, Neath Port Talbot. Prior to enrolling at

, she attended

Neath Port Talbot College Neath Port Talbot College (NPTC) was a further education institution established as two campuses in Port Talbot and Neath in Wales. The college allowed study of many courses including GCSEs, GCE Advanced Level, AS Level/A levels, AGCEs, AVCEs, Ad ...

, where she was named sportswoman of the year as well as player of the year for both rugby and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

Death

On 25 February 2017, Norkett died as a result of a car crash on the A4109. She was on her way to a local take away to get food for her and her partner when the accident happened, near

Glynneath Glynneath ( ; also spelt ''Glyn-neath'' and ''Glyn Neath'') is a town, community and electoral ward lying on the River Neath in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales. It was formerly in the historic county of Glamorgan. Glynneath ward ...

Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot () is a Principal areas of Wales, county borough in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. Its principal towns are Neath, Port Talbot, Briton Ferry and Pontardawe. The county borough borders Bridgend County Borough and Rhon ...

. She was 20 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norkett, Elli 1996 births 2017 deaths Welsh female rugby union players 21st-century Welsh sportswomen Wales women's international rugby union players People from Ribchester Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Ospreys (rugby union) players 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Road incident deaths in Wales Rugby union players from Lancashire People educated at Neath Port Talbot College