Leanne Infante (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Riley, born 18 July 1993) 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. She made her 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 ...

in 2013 and was a finalist in the

2017 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup was the eighth edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup and was held in Ireland in August 2017. New Zealand became the 2017 champions by beating England 41–32 in the final on 26 August. Matches were held in Du ...

. At club level, she plays for

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

International career

In 2012, Infante was part of the England 7s team that won the 2012 Hong Kong Women's Sevens. Her debut for the senior England 15s side came in 2013 against South Africa. At the

, Infante was part of the England team who took the silver medal. She scored her first international try at the

2018 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship, also known as the 2018 RBS Women's Six Nations sponsored by Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six Eu ...

and was awarded a full time contract with the team in 2019. She was part of the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

winning England team at the

2019 Six Nations The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotla ...

and was also named to the Super Series squad the same year. Infante continues to play for the England Women's Rugby Team as of the 2022 Six Nations. She was named in the England squad for the 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, ...

held in New Zealand in October and November 2022.

Club career

Infante joined

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 ...

in 2013 and moved on to Richmond FC in 2015. In 2017, she won the Women's Premiership with the

Aylesford Bulls Ladies Aylesford Bulls Ladies Rugby Football Club were a women's rugby union club based in Aylesford, Kent, England. They played in the Women's Premiership. They were founded in 1998 and were the ladies team of Aylesford Bulls. Following an agreement wi ...

- later that year, the club was taken over by

Harlequins Ladies Harlequins Women, formerly known as Harlequins Ladies, are a women's rugby union club based in Guildford, Surrey, England and in Twickenham, Middlesex, England. They were founded in 1995 as the women's team of Harlequin F.C. and rebranded in 201 ...

where Infante continues to play as a scrum half. She later won the Premier 15s in 2021 for Harlequins before moving to

Bristol Bears Women Bristol Bears Women, formerly Clifton Ladies RFC, then Bristol Ladies, is a women's rugby union team based in Bristol, England. They are a standalone, independent rugby club, running in partnership with the Bristol Bears (formerly Bristol Rugby) s ...

. Infante rejoined

for the 2022/3 season. Riley holds a distinction of winning the Premiership with every side she has represented.

Early life and education

She began playing rugby at Park Hill Primary School, Coventry, aged 10. She moved on to the Old Coventrians before playing for both the Worcester and Lichfield U18s. Riley attended Allesley Primary School and Coundon Court Secondary school. She achieved a BTEC National Diploma in Sports Performance and Excellence, and has a sports massage qualification from Southam College. As well as rugby, Riley is a skilled netball player and has previously played for Warwickshire. Before she received her full-time England contract, Riley worked as a sports massage therapist and gym receptionist. Riley is an ambassador for the Harlequins' Switch initiative and the Lions Sports Academy, which involves her encouraging young people to try rugby and offering coaching.

References

External links

RFU Player Profile
1993 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Rugby union players from Coventry Saracens Women rugby players Harlequins Women rugby players Rugby union scrum-halves Bristol Bears Women players {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub