Amy Garnett (born 31 March 1976) is an English

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 it ...

player who plays for

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 It was superseded in the 2017/18 season by Premier ...

team

Saracens Women Saracens Women ( /ˈsærəsənz/) are a women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London, England. They were founded in 1989 and currently play in the Premier 15s, the top level competition of women's rugby in the country. Saracens are the m ...

as a hooker. She was the first player to earn 100

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

for the

England women's national rugby union team The England women's national rugby union team, also 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. ...

Career

Garnett started to play rugby at university in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

after a friend suggested she come to a training session. She went on to play for a London-based club, Saracens Women, whom she has represented since 2002. Garnett captained the club from 2007 to 2009, leading them to consecutive Women's Premiership titles and to victory in the Premiership Cup in 2008.

International career

Garnett made her international debut for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 2000 against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. She continued to be selected for England throughout the decade, eventually earning her 100th cap in 2011 during the match against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. This made her the first women's rugby union international to earn 100 caps for England, and the third woman rugby player from any country to reach that mark. Garnett is also England's most selected hooker. She represented her country in three

Women's Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is the women's rugby union world championship which is organised by World Rugby. The first Rugby World Cup for women was held in 1991, but it was not until the 1998 tournament that the tournament received official backing ...

s, in 2002, 2006, and 2010. On each occasion, England reached the final, only to lose to

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 ...

; Garnett was a member of the starting fifteen in each final.

Personal life

Garnett was born in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, Kent, and lived in nearby

Littlebourne Littlebourne is a village and civil parish east of Canterbury in Kent, South East England. History The significant Howletts Anglo-Saxon cemetery is in the parish. It is regarded as " Jutish"; finds are in the British Museum and elsewhere, and i ...

, where she attended the local primary school before completing her secondary education at

Barton Court Grammar School Barton Court Grammar School (formerly Canterbury Technical School for Girls and Barton Court Grammar School for Girls) is an 11-18 mixed Academy of Excellence in Canterbury, Kent, England. It has Foreign Language College status and offers A-Leve ...

. She studied for a

Bachelor of Education A Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) is an undergraduate professional degree which prepares students for work as a teacher in schools. In some countries such as Tanzania and Kenya, additional tasks like field work and research are required in order fo ...

physical education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorat ...

at Liverpool John Moores University, and earned a BSc (Hons) in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

and

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...

. In addition to playing rugby on an amateur basis, Garnett is a police officer in the Metropolitan Police.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garnett, Amy 1976 births Living people Alumni of De Montfort University Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Metropolitan Police officers Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Canterbury Women Metropolitan Police officers