Detysha Harper (born 23 October 1998,

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rugby union player. She represents

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. E ...

internationally and plays for Loughborough Lightning at club level.

International career

Harper got her first call-up to the England squad in November 2019, after playing for the Under 20s. She made her international debut playing for England in February 2020. She was called up as a replacement against Ireland at the

2020 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 19th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six European rugby union national teams. Matches were originally scheduled for February and ...

. England won the championship in late 2020 after delays due to the

COVID-19 pandemic 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 identif ...

. She was again called up to the England team during the

2021 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change o ...

s. She played in the final versus France, helping England to take the win and make her a two-time Six Nations champion. Not originally named in the squad for the COVID-delayed

2021 Rugby World Cup The 2021 Rugby World Cup was the ninth staging of the 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 scheduled to be held in 2021, ...

, Harper was called up after the first two pool games to replace the injured

Laura Keates Laura Keates (born 5 August 1988) is an English female rugby union player. Career Keates debuted for in 2011 and played at the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup in France. Keates captained the England Women's under 19 team in 2007. She injured her ...

Club career

She first played rugby at 15, joining her local club Eccles RFC. She went on to play in the Premier 15s for Loughborough Lightning.

Early and personal life

Harper was born in Salford, Manchester. There was no rugby at her school, so she played rounders, netball and football. So it wasn't until she was 15 that she first played, after asking why only her two brothers played rugby and not her: she joined Eccles RFC which had Under 15s and Under 18s girls' teams. She is studying for a degree in Psychology at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

. Harper is known in the England women's rugby team for plaiting other players' hair before matches.

References

External links

England Player Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Detysha 1998 births Living people English female rugby union players Rugby union players from Salford 21st-century English women