Leah Bartlett (born 28 August 1998) is a Scottish rugby player from Lougborough who has played 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 ...
and Women's Six Nations, including the
2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She has also played for the England Women's U20 team.
Club career
Bartlett played for Loughborough Town before moving to
Loughborough Lightning in 2018. Bartlett is one of a contingent of Scottish internationals at the Premier 15s club including
Jenny Maxwell
Jennifer Helene Maxwell (September 3, 1941 – June 10, 1981) was an American film and television actress, probably best remembered for her role in the 1961 Elvis Presley film '' Blue Hawaii.''
Early years
Maxwell was the daughter of a constr ...
,
Helen Nelson,
Emma Wassell and
Rachel Malcolm
Dr Rachel Ann Malcolm is a Scottish professional rugby player for Loughborough Lightning in the Allianz Premier 15s and Scotland Women. She plays predominantly as a Openside Flanker, however is also at home across the back row. She captained ...
. She frequently starts at Prop for the team. She was part of the Lightning team that finished third in the 2018/19 Tyrells Premier 15s.
International career
Bartlett was selected for the England U20s team in 2016 when she was studying at Loughborough College. In her first match for the squad, she scored in a 38-15 defeat against Army Women in Aldershot. She played in loosehead position and has commented on the match, ''"The pressure in the scrums was so powerful, like nothing I had experienced before, but we had a strong front row and I just got on with it."''
She qualified to play for Scotland through both her parents being Scottish and was first called up to Scotland in January 2020. She received her first cap that month against Spain, a match which the Scottish team won.
In 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 ...
, which was disrupted by COVID-19, she was selected by coach
Philip Doyle to play in the starting match against Ireland. Doyle said of his decision to add Leah to the squad, ''“I’ve been unbelievably impressed with Leah since she came into the group. She’s got a young head on her shoulders, but she knows her rugby inside out, especially technically at set piece time.”'' She was one of 12
Loughborough Lightning players called up to represent their country at that year’s Women’s Six Nations. She also played in matches against Italy, England and France that year.
In the
2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, she played in the matches against England and Italy and came on as a replacement in the deciding match against Wales, which Scotland won. She was one of eleven Loughborough Lightning players to play in the 2021 Six Nations.
Personal life
Bartlett first started playing rugby when she was five at Loughborough Rugby Club.
Bartlett received a BTEC in Sports Science from Loughborough College. While studying there, she was shortlisted for the Personal Achievement category in the College's Pride of Charnwood Awards.
She went on to study Sport and Exercise Science 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 ...
.
Both Bartlett's parents are Scottish, which is why she qualifies for Scotland. She is one of seven siblings and her brother Ewan once played for the Scottish Exiles.
References
External links
Leah Bartlett Scottish Rugby Profile PageLeah Bartlett Women's Rugby Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartlett, Leah
1998 births
Living people
English female rugby union players
Scotland women's international rugby union players
Rugby union players from Loughborough