Sophie Spence (born 26 February 1987) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Spence represented Ireland at the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. Spence was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat and . She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

and

2015 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2015 RBS Women's Six Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual Women's rugby unio ...

s. Spence is a

British Nigerian British Nigerians (here meaning British people of Nigerian descent rather than Nigerians of British descent) have formed long-established communities in London, Liverpool and other industrial cities. Many Nigerians and their British-born descend ...

who qualified to represent Ireland through her mother, who was originally from

Lisburn Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...

County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...

Early years, family and education

Spence is the daughter of Myrtle Spence, who was originally from

. Her father was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

marine engineering student. Myrtle Spence moved to

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

Tyne & Wear Tyne and Wear () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England. It borders Northumberland to the north and County Durham to the south, and the largest settlement is the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. The county is ...

in the early 1980s, when she was in her mid-twenties, and subsequently met and had a relationship with Sophie's father. Sophie Spence was born and raised in South Shields, where she attended Ashley Road Primary School and Brinkburn Comprehensive. As a child she regularly spent holidays with her mother's family in

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

. In her youth, Spence initially played

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

. Between 2005 and 2010 she attended

Teesside University Teesside University is a public university with its main campus in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in North East England. It was officially opened as ''Constantine Technical College'' in 1930, before becoming a polytechnic in 1969, and finally g ...

, where she gained a BASc in sports and exercise coaching science, a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in sport psychology and a PGCE.

Playing career

Clubs

Spence began playing

women's rugby union Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...

while at

. She played with

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

before joining

Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Darlington Mowden Park Sharks Ladies Rugby Football Club (commonly shortened to DMP Sharks, also known briefly as DMP Durham Sharks for partnership purposes) is a women's rugby union club in Darlington, County Durham, England founded in 1996. Thei ...

who played in the

Women's Premiership The Women's Premiership, also called the RFUW Premiership was the top level of women's rugby union in England until 2017. It was formed in 1990 and was run by the Rugby Football Union for Women. It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premi ...

. Her teammates at Sharks included the international captain, Katy McLean. Spence subsequently made her debut for both and the Ireland Sevens while a Sharks player. In 2013, after moving to

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

to further her Ireland career, Spence began playing for

Old Belvedere Old Belvedere R.F.C. is a senior Irish rugby union club based on Anglesea Road in Ballsbridge, Dublin, Ireland. Old Belvedere was originally founded in 1918–19 by former pupils of Belvedere College. Old Belvedere enters senior men's teams in ...

Provincial level

In August 2011 Spence tried out for the

Irish Exiles Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

. Spence has also played for

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

in the

IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series The IRFU Women's Interprovincial Series, previously known as the IWRFU Interprovincial Championship, is the top level women's rugby union competition in Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is the women's equivalent of ...

. In addition to playing for Leinster, Spence has worked for

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby () is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of t ...

in various coaching and community development roles.

Barbarians

In March 2018 Spence played for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

against a British Army XV.

Ireland international

Between

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Spence played for . After Spence attended an

trials in August 2011, Philip Doyle decided to fast track her into the Ireland team. Doyle recognised her potential and was keen to claim her for Ireland before came calling. She subsequently made her debut for Ireland on 3 February 2012 against . The match was abandoned at half-time because of a frozen pitch. Spence went on to represent Ireland at the

and 2017 Women's Rugby World Cups. Spence was a member of the first Ireland teams to defeat and . She was also a member of the Ireland teams that won the

and

s. In 2015 she was a nominee for the IRB Women's Player of the Year, the

RTÉ Sports Person of the Year The RTÉ Sports Person of the Year Award is the titular award of the RTÉ Sports Awards ceremony, which takes place each December. The winner is the Irish sportsperson (from the island of Ireland) judged to have achieved the most that year. The ...

and was named the ''

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

'' Rugby Writers of Ireland Women's Player of the Year. Spence retired as an Ireland international after failing to make the squad for the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship. Spence played for the Ireland women's national rugby sevens team in the 2013 European Women's Sevens Grand Prix Series.

Employment

Spence has worked in various teaching, coaching and development roles. Between 2010 and 2013 she worked at

Hartlepool Sixth Form College Hartlepool Sixth Form College, otherwise known as 'HSFC', is one of fewer than 100 specialist sixth form colleges (for ages 16–19) in England. History It was originally known as West Hartlepool Grammar School (also known as Brinkburn Grammar ...

, where she managed the

academy. After moving to

, Spence worked for

in various coaching and community development roles. Between 2014 and 2017 she worked as a rugby union development officer with

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) () is a Third-level education in the Republic of Ireland, university based on the Northside, Dublin, Northside of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Created as the ''National Institute for Highe ...

. She also worked as a brand ambassador for both

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

and the

Bank of Ireland Bank of Ireland Group plc () is a commercial bank operation in Ireland and one of the traditional Big Four Irish banks. Historically the premier banking organisation in Ireland, the bank occupies a unique position in Irish banking history. At ...

. In April 2016 she launched the Sophie Spence Rugby Academy.

Honours

Rugby union

; *

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 ...

**''Winners'':

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

* Grand Slam **''Winners'':

* Triple Crown **''Winners'':

;

**''Winners'': 2013 ; Ireland Sevens * Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Championships Plate **''Winners'':

;Individual *''

'' Rugby Writers of Ireland Women's Player of the Year Award ** 2015

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spence, Sophie 1987 births Living people English female rugby union players Irish female rugby union players Ireland women's international rugby union players Ireland international women's rugby sevens players Irish rugby sevens players Old Belvedere R.F.C. players Leinster Rugby women's players Irish Exiles women's rugby union players English netball coaches Irish rugby union coaches People associated with Dublin City University Irish people of Nigerian descent English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English people of Northern Ireland descent Black British sportswomen Alumni of Teesside University Black Irish sportspeople 21st-century Irish sportswomen Rugby union players from South Shields Female rugby union coaches Darlington Mowden Park Sharks players 21st-century English sportswomen