Sarah Alice Hunter (born 19 September 1985) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. She represented at four

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

s. At the

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 ...

, Hunter received her 138th international cap, passing Rochelle Clark to become England's all-time most capped rugby player.

Early life

Hunter was born in

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

in 1985. She began playing

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 ...

as a 9-year-old at Goathland Primary School, playing for the Longbenton and Gateshead Panthers. Sarah started playing rugby union at Novocastrians RFC in 2000 and initially played as a strong running centre. She was Players' Player of the Year before transitioning to the back row. Having moved position, she was selected for England U19s. In 2004 she left the North-East to study sports science and mathematics at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

. She went on to work for the RFU as University Rugby Development Office for the South West.

Rugby union career

Club

At 18, Hunter joined the Lichfield Ladies. She moved to Bristol Ladies in 2015 and joined Loughborough Lightning in 2017, where she retired in 2023.

International

Hunter made her England debut in 2007. She had trained as a centre but joined the England squad as a back row player after coach Phil Forsyth moved her at Under-19s trials. She led the England team to win the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup and won her hundredth cap in November 2017 as England played Canada in the semi-finals of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. As of April 2021, Hunter is the most capped England player of all time. In November 2020, Hunter was unable to play in the team's postponed 2020 Six Nations game due to a hamstring injury. She had also injured a nerve in her neck in October 2020, which took doctors five months to fully diagnose and left her unsure of whether she would be able to return to professional rugby. After 13 months off, Hunter returned to the international pitch in April 2021 as England beat Italy in the second round of the 2021 Women's Six Nations. She was named in the England squad for the delayed

held in New Zealand in October and November 2022.

Honours and awards

Hunter was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

and then

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

, both for services to rugby union. She was named

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

Women's Player of the Year in 2016. In 2022, Hunter was awarded an honorary degree from

in recognition of her outstanding contribution to rugby and achievements at the highest level of international competition.

References

External links

Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Sarah 1985 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English female rugby union players Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from North Shields Bristol Bears Women players Loughborough Lightning rugby union players Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Loughborough University World Rugby Players of the Year 21st-century English sportswomen