Ellie Tea Kildunne (born 8 September 1999) is an English

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 is a member of the

England women's national rugby union team The England women's national rugby union team, commonly known as the Red Roses, represents England in women's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Women's Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales ...

and plays for Harlequins Women at club level. In 2024, she was named World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year at the

World Rugby Awards The World Rugby Awards are given out annually by World Rugby (until November 2014, known as the International Rugby Board), the worldwide governing body for rugby union, for major achievements in the sport. The idea of rewarding excellence in ru ...

Early life and education

Kildunne grew up in West Yorkshire and started playing rugby aged seven. She played

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for Keighley Albion as well as rugby union for

Keighley RUFC Keighley Rugby Union Football Club is a Rugby Union club based in Keighley, West Yorkshire, England. The club currently play in Counties 1 Yorkshire. Club history Keighley R.U.F.C. (or the Keighlians Old Boys R.U.F.C. as it was originally ...

, where she was the only girl on the pitch. She was also a keen footballer, but went down the rugby route when she enrolled at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education The university and college is set in a 360-hectare estate located in Hartpury, near Gloucester, in Gloucestershire, England. The ...

after finishing school. She later studied Sport and Exercise Science at

St Mary's University, Twickenham St Mary's University, Twickenham is a public university in Strawberry Hill, Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its stated commitment is to the mission of the Catholic Church in higher education. History Originally foun ...

on a scholarship. At Under-18 level, Kildunne captained the Yorkshire team and represented the England Under-18 side at sevens.

International career

Kildunne's England debut came in 2017, when she scored a try for the England 15s in a match against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. After an impressive performance in the Tyrrells Premier 15s, she was called up to start five of England's

2018 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2018 RBS Women's Six Nations sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring six Eu ...

matches. She was named Player of the Match after England's win over Ireland, and also in the Six Nations after England's 46–0 win over Scotland on 13 April 2024. In the summer of 2018, Kildunne transitioned to England Women's Sevens team as it fought to - and did - qualify for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. Kildunne made her return to XVs rugby but missed the first two events of the 2019 World Series due to injury. She went on to play eight of England's matches of the competition and scored three tries for her country. She was part of the team that won the

2020 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 19th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition contested by six European rugby union national teams. Matches were originally scheduled for February ...

, which was postponed until late 2020 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She also played in the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring England women's national rugby union team, England, France women's national rugby union te ...

s, which England won. She was named in the England squad for the delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the Rugby World Cup (women), women's Rugby World Cup, as organised by World Rugby. It was held from 8 October to 12 November 2022 in Auckland and Whangārei, New Zealand. It was originally sche ...

held in New Zealand in October and November 2022. After winning the 2024 Six Nations grand slam, in which she was the top try scorer, it was announced that she would join up with the Great Britain women's sevens team prior to the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. In June 2024, she was named in the British squad for the Olympic Games. The team finished seventh. In November 2024, she was named World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year at the

. She was called into the

Red Roses Red Roses (, 'red moor') is a village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. Situated in south-west Carmarthenshire, the village forms part of the Eglwyscummin community, and with Ciffig and Marros, forms part of the Laugharne Township electoral ward. T ...

side for the

2025 Six Nations Championship The 2025 Men's Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons and branded as M6N) was a rugby union competition that took place from late January to mid-March 2025, featuring the men's national teams of E ...

in March. On 29th March 2025 she was named Player of the Match in a 67-12 win over Wales in the Women's Six Nations.

Club career

Kildunne began playing

for Keighley Albion and

for

before moving on t
West Park

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

, and then

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

. She joined

Premier 15s Premiership Women's Rugby – officially known as Allianz Premiership Women's Rugby or The Allianz PWR – is an annual semi-professional women's rugby union club competition at the highest level of the English rugby union system, and is run ...

team Gloucester-Hartpury for the 2017/18 season. Ellie joined Wasps in 2020 and committed her immediate future to XVs and won the 2021 Six Nations. A move to Harlequins followed in 2021. Ellie was part of the Red Roses' 2021 autumn international squad and won the 2022 Six Nations.

References

External links

Ellie Kildunne
at England Rugby
Ellie Kildunne
at Harlequins * *
Ellie Kildunne
at the

Paris 2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kildunne, Ellie 1999 births Living people Alumni of Hartpury College Alumni of St Mary's University, Twickenham English female rugby league players English female rugby union players England women's international rugby union players Gloucester-Hartpury Women players Harlequins Women rugby players Rugby league players from Keighley Rugby league players from Rotherham Rugby sevens players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for Great Britain Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Keighley Rugby union players from Rotherham Wasps Women rugby players 21st-century English sportswomen