Lydia Thompson (born 10 February 1992) is a member of the England Women's Rugby Team having made her debut in 2012. At club level, she plays for Worcester Warriors Women.

International career

Thompson made her debut for England in 2012, running in three tries against Spain during the 2012 European Cup. She played in the opening pool game of the

2014 Women's Rugby World Cup The 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup was the seventh edition of the Women's Rugby World Cup, and the sixth held in Europe. The World Cup Final took place on 17 August. All of the pool games for the World Cup took place at the Centre National du R ...

but was ruled out of the tournament due to injury, though the team went on to win. She returned to international rugby in 2017, helping England to win the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by NatWest ...

grand slam, and playing in every game of 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 Dubl ...

. That same year, she was nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year. She moved to Rugby sevens in 2018 to play for England in the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, and returned to 15s for the Quilter Internationals in November that year. Though she missed the

2019 Six Nations championship 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, Scotland ...

, Thompson returned to play all England games of the 2019 Super Series, and scored the winning try of the country's Quilter International match against France. In 2020, she again represented her country in its

2020 Six Nations The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

match against Wales before the championship was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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

Thompson joined the Worcester Warriors Women (previously Worcester Valkyries) in 2010 and continues to play for the team.

Early life and education

Thompson was born in 1992 in Stourbridge. She began playing rugby at eleven years old. She went to Ounsdale High School in Wombourne before completing her schooling at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge. She studied at Derby University gaining a degree in

Occupational Therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...

in 2013 . Thompson was awarded an Honorary Master of the University (HonMUniv) in July 2022 in recognition of her outstanding international rugby caree
Commendation
Thompson worked as an occupational therapist for 2gether NHS Foundation Trust and applied to return to the NHS in April 2020 after the outbreak of COVID-19. Her husband, Tom, is also an occupational therapist.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Lydia 1992 births Living people Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in rugby sevens England women's international rugby union players English female rugby union players Rugby sevens players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Rugby union players from Stourbridge England international women's rugby sevens players Occupational therapists Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games