Sarah Elizabeth Beckett (born 14 February 1999) is a professional

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

rugby union player. She represents

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 ...

internationally and plays for Gloucester-Hartpury at club level.

International career

Beckett made her England debut in November 2018, starting in an 57–5 victory of USA Women. She featured in every game as England won the

2019 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2019 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition featuring six European rugby union national teams. Matches were held in February and March 2019, on the ...

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

. She played in all Autumn Internationals and 2020 Women's Six Nations matches. On 17 March 2025, she was named in 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 ...

squad for the

Women's Six Nations Championship The Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the Guinness Women's Six Nations for sponsorship purposes, is an international rugby union competition featuring six European women's national teams. It started in the 1995–96 season as the Home ...

Club career

Beckett made her debut in the Premier 15s for

Waterloo Ladies Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club, known for sponsorship reasons as Firwood Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club, is a women's rugby union club based in Blundellsands, Merseyside, England. They are the women's team of Waterloo FC. They were estab ...

aged 18. The club was renamed Firwood Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club for sponsorship reasons. She won the Gill Burns' Ladies Championship with Firwood in the 2016/17 season. In the same season, she also won the Gill Burns' Ladies County Championship as captain of the Lancashire and

North of England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmorland and Yorkshire. Officially, it is a gr ...

U18 team. As the only professional rugby player at Firwood, she moved to

Harlequins Women Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 2017 ...

in 2019 in a bid to help her retain professional standards.

Early life and education

Sarah has a twin sister called Kate who didn't play rugby until she attended

Leicester University The University of Leicester ( ) is a public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university ...

. Their older brother, Charlie, is a former professional rugby union player. Aged 8, Sarah tried to tackle her older brother but broke her arm. Her father, uncle and grandfather all played rugby for

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

. Sarah attended Range High School in Formby, Merseyside, where former England and Waterloo captain

Gill Burns Gillian Ann Burns (born 12 July 1964) is a former rugby union player who represented England between 1988 and 2002, including when they won the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup. She also captained her country between 1994 and 1999. She was selected ...

was her head of house. She joined Waterloo RFC aged seven. Beckett completed the U20s trials twice for England and didn't make the squad but eventually made it after

Matt Ferguson Matt Ferguson (born November 30, 1966, in Bloomington, Indiana) is a former American Chief Executive Officer for the largest online job site CareerBuilder.com. He graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts in pol ...

, the then England forwards coach, saw her playing for Firwood at age 18. After a gap year spent teaching PE at primary schools, she went on to study international disaster management at university but left after ten weeks as her rugby training for England interfered with her studies. She also plays guitar.

References

External links

Sarah Beckett
at England Rugby
Sarah Beckett
at Gloucester-Hartpury * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Sarah 1999 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Rugby union players from Liverpool 21st-century English women Gloucester-Hartpury Women players Rugby union number eights Harlequins Women rugby players English twins 21st-century English sportswomen