Ella Wyrwas (born 7 March 1999) 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 its m ...

player who currently plays as a scrum-half for

Saracens Women Saracens Women (Help:IPA/English, /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 union, women's rugby ...

in the

Premier 15s The Premier 15s, currently known for sponsorship purposes as the Allianz Premier 15s, is the top tier of the women's English rugby union domestic league system run by the Rugby Football Union (RFU). The league was created mainly from teams in t ...

, the top-flight competition of

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. Rugby was originally a men's sport, and women's rugby has become p ...

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 ...

Club career

Wyrwas began her senior rugby career when she made her debut for

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

at the age of 18. She initially played as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, but was subsequently deemed too small to continue in that position, resulting in her transition to scrum-half. Her debut season culminated in winning the

2017–18 Premier 15s The 2017–18 Premier 15s was the inaugural season for the Premier 15s and began on 16 September, 2017. Saracens Women won the inaugural Championship after defeating Harlequins Women, Harlequins Ladies in their final 24–20. Teams Table S ...

title, as she was among the replacements in the club's 24–20 final victory over Harlequins. In September 2018, Wyrwas moved to Premier 15s rivals Loughborough Lightning. The move was due to the club's proximity to the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

, where she had earned a sports scholarship to pursue undergraduate studies. However, her playing time was cut short significantly after she sustained serious knee damage in 2019, rupturing her

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation ...

and lateral collateral ligament. The injury required two operations and resulted in an 18-month layoff. She resumed her spell at Loughborough during the 2020–21 season. Wyrwas returned for a second stint at Saracens in 2021, and quickly established herself as the team's first-choice scrum-half. She helped the club to achieve its fourth consecutive first-place finish in the 2021–22 regular season, before starting in the play-off final, as Saracens were crowned champions by defeating Exeter Chiefs with a score of 43–21.

International career

Wyrwas has represented

at both U18s and U20s levels. Strong performances for Saracens led to her first call-ups to the England senior squad from head coach

Simon Middleton Simon Middleton (born 2 February 1966) is an English former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s and the current head coach of the England Women's rugby union team. Playing career Middleton ...

, firstly for the 2021 Autumn Internationals and then the

2022 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2022 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 21st series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Ita ...

, although she did not receive a cap. Despite missing out on the final squad for the

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, ...

, she was recalled ahead of the 2023 Women's Six Nations.

Early life and education

Wyrwas was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England and is of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

descent. She started playing rugby at the age of six, in the minis and junior systems at

. As a teenager, she played for

Welwyn RFC Welwyn Rugby Football Club (Commonly abbreviated as Welwyn RFC) is an English rugby union club playing in London 2 North West following their promotion from London 3 North West as runners up at the end of the 2017–18 season. History The clu ...

alongside future Saracens and England teammates

Hannah Botterman Hannah Botterman (born 8 June 1999) is an English rugby union prop who represents Saracens Women in club rugby and the England national team. Botterman made her debut in 2017 against Canada. International career In 2017, Botterman was called ...

Zoe Harrison Zoe Harrison (born 14 April 1998) is an English rugby player who plays for the England women's national rugby union team and Saracens Women at club level. She made her international debut for England in 2017 and was offered a full-time contract f ...

and

Helena Rowland Helena Charlotte Rowland (born 19 September 1999) is an English rugby union player. She plays for England women's national rugby union team internationally and Loughborough Lightning at club level. International career At the start of 2018 sh ...

, achieving regional and national success at U15s level. She continued her development in the AASE Girls Rugby Programme at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

while studying for her A-levels. Wyrwas has a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

from Nottingham University. During her time there, she also played for and coached the women's rugby team. After completing her university studies and since returning to north London, Wyrwas has been employed as a disability inclusion project officer at the Saracens Foundation, the charitable arm of the club she plays for.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyrwas, Ella 1999 births Living people English female rugby union players English people of Polish descent Alumni of the University of Nottingham England women's international rugby union players Saracens Women rugby players Loughborough Lightning rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union players from London Alumni of Hartpury College