Leanne Nicole Infante (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Riley, born 18 July 1993) 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 made her debut for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in 2013 and was a finalist in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. At club level, she ended her career playing for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

International career

In 2012, Infante was part of the England 7s team that won the 2012 Hong Kong Women's Sevens. Her debut for the senior England 15s side came in 2013 against South Africa. At the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, Infante was part of the England team who took the silver medal. She scored her first international try at the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship and was awarded a full time contract with the team in 2019. She was part of the Grand Slam winning England team at the 2019 Six Nations and was also named to the Super Series squad the same year. Infante continues to play for the England Women's Rugby Team as of the 2022 Six Nations. 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.

Club career

Infante joined Saracens Women in 2013 and moved on to Richmond FC in 2015. In 2017, she won the Women's Premiership with the Aylesford Bulls Ladies - later that year, the club was taken over by Harlequins Ladies where Infante continues to play as a scrum half. She later won the Premier 15s in 2021 for Harlequins before moving to Bristol Bears Women. Infante rejoined Saracens Women for the 2022/3 season. Riley holds a distinction of winning the Premiership with every side she has represented.

Retirement

Infante announced her retirement from professional rugby union in October 2024. Her last game for Saracens was in the 100-0 defeat of Leicester Tigers, on 11 January 2025.

Early life and education

She began playing rugby at Park Hill Primary School, Coventry, aged 10. She moved on to the Old Coventrians before playing for both the Worcester and Lichfield U18s. Riley attended Allesley Primary School and Coundon Court Secondary school. She achieved a BTEC National Diploma in Sports Performance and Excellence, and has a sports massage qualification from Southam College. As well as rugby, Riley is a skilled netball player and has previously played for Warwickshire. Before she received her full-time England contract, Riley worked as a sports massage therapist and gym receptionist. Riley is an ambassador for the Harlequins' Switch initiative and the Lions Sports Academy, which involves her encouraging young people to try rugby and offering coaching.

References

External links

RFU Player Profile
1993 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Rugby union players from Coventry Saracens Women rugby players Harlequins Women rugby players Rugby union scrum-halves Bristol Bears Women players 21st-century English sportswomen {{England-rugbyunion-bio-1990s-stub