Michaela Lea Leonard (born 6 March 1995) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. She plays at Lock for the Wallaroos and competed at the recent

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She previously played for the Brumbies before joining the

Western Force The Western Force is an Australian professional rugby union team based in Perth, Western Australia, currently competing in Super Rugby Pacific. They previously played in Super Rugby from 2006 until they were axed from the competition in 2017. ...

in the Super W competition. She has also played for Exeter Chiefs and

Matatū Matatū is a New Zealand women's professional rugby union team that competes in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Matatū represents the South Island, specifically the regions covered by the Crusaders and the Highlanders. They are governed ...

Personal life

Leonard graduated from the University of Canberra with a

Bachelor of Physiotherapy Physical therapy education varies greatly from country to country. Worldwide, physical therapy training ranges from basic work site education in hospitals and outpatient clinics to professional doctoral degree and masters programs. Africa N ...

Rugby career

2018–21

Leonard plays club rugby for

Tuggeranong Vikings The Tuggeranong Vikings are a rugby union club based in Tuggeranong, Australian Capital Territory. It is supported by 4 licensed clubs based in Wanniassa, Greenway, Conder, Chisholm. The club has been successful in local and national competiti ...

and played for the Brumbies from 2018 to 2021 in the Super W competition. She only started playing rugby union ahead of the Brumbies tryouts before the inaugural season of Super W in 2018, she was later named Brumbies rookie of the year. She was named as co-captain of the Brumbies ahead of the

2020 Super W season The 2020 Super W season was the third edition of the women's Super W competition in Australia. The playoff and final were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NSW Waratahs were dubbed champions after an undefeated season. Teams Regula ...

, but the season was cut short due to the

COVID-19 outbreak The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

and the NSW Waratahs were crowned champions. Leonard made her debut for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in 2019. In 2021, she was named as captain of the Brumbies for the

2021 Super W season The 2021 Super W season had a different format to previous seasons. With the inclusion of the President's XV, teams were split into two pools of three. This format however was only for the 2021 season. The competition will revert to the usual home ...

2022

Leonard and fellow Wallaroo,

Arabella McKenzie Arabella McKenzie (born 1 March 1999) is an Australian rugby union player. She represents Australia at an international level and competed at the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. Early life McKenzie grew up in Lightning Ridge, New S ...

, both signed with

club

for the inaugural season of Super Rugby Aupiki in 2022. She was named in Australia's squad for the

2022 Pacific Four Series The 2022 Pacific Four Series was the second edition of the Pacific Four Series. The competition was hosted by New Zealand from 6 to 18 June. Matches were played at two of the venues which will host the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup – The Trusts ...

. She was selected in the Wallaroos squad for a two-test series against the Black Ferns at the Laurie O'Reilly Cup. Leonard was selected in the team again for the delayed 2022 Rugby World Cup in

. After the World Cup, she joined Exeter Chiefs for the

2022–23 Premier 15s The 2022–23 Premier 15s is the 6th season of the Premier 15s, the highest tier of English domestic women's rugby union competition (the 24th season including editions of the previous Women's Premiership), and the 3rd to be sponsored by Allianz. ...

season.

2023

Leonard signed with the

for the

2023 Super W season The 2023 Super W season is the sixth edition of the competition. The season kicked off on 24 March, with the final played on 6 May. In a historic first, defending champions, Fijiana Drua, got to play in front of their home crowd in Nadi against the ...

References

External links

Wallaroos Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leonard, Michaela 1995 births Living people Australian female rugby union players Australia women's international rugby union players Rugby union players from Canberra Sportswomen from the Australian Capital Territory