Rhona Lloyd (born 17 October 1996) is a Scottish professional

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 from

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. She has played in multiple Women's Six Nations Championships, including the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship. She collected 25 caps for Scotland before the age of 23.

Club career

Lloyd plays for Loughborough Lightning, alongside internationally recognised players including

Emily Scarratt Emily Scarratt (born 8 February 1990) is an English rugby union player. She currently plays centre and fullback for Loughborough Lightning and for England. She is also a qualified teacher. Club career Scarratt played for Leicester Forest ...

and England captain

Sarah Hunter Sarah Alice Hunter, (born 19 September 1985) is an English rugby union player. She has represented since the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup and currently captains the team. At the 2021 Women's Rugby World Cup Hunter received her 138th internat ...

. The ''Daily Telegraph'' described her as a "try-scoring sensation" in November 2019, after she scored 10 tries in just six league appearances in the Tyrrells Premier 15s. While at Edinburgh University, she played rugby for the women's team, winning the final of BUCs at Twickenham in her final year. She captained Murrayfield Wanderers U18 to victory in the Brewin Dolphin Cup.

International career

Lloyd played sevens for Scotland Women U19 and U20 in season 2013/14. She made her full international debut against England in the 2016 Women's Six Nations opener at

Broadwood Stadium Broadwood Stadium is a multi-use community stadium and sports complex in the Westfield area of Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire. The stadium is currently the home of Cumbernauld Colts and Open Goal Broomhill of the Scottish Lowland Football Lea ...

. Lloyd scored her first international try in the 2016 Six Nations finale against Ireland in Dublin and her second in the Rugby World Cup qualifier against Spain in Madrid in November 2016. The wing contributed to Scotland Women's 15-14 win against Wales in the 2017 Women's Six Nations with a second-half try. After a shoulder injury set back her progress in 2018 she returned to the starting line for the

2019 Women's Six Nations Championship The 2019 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between six European rugby union national teams. Matches were held in February and March 2019, on the ...

. Lloyd played in the 2019 South African tour, in which the Scottish team won two of its matches, playing for the first time in the Southern hemisphere. She played 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 due to COVID-19. She was also part of the squad for the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship, alongside Loughborough Lighting teammates

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 ...

, Leah Bartlett,

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 ...

and Helen Nelson.

Personal life

Lloyd began playing rugby after Scotland international player Sarah Quick came to her school in Edinburgh to lead a taster session. First taking up rugby at Tynecastle High School at age 16 as the only girl in her school playing rugby. She then worked her way through the age grades. Outside rugby was in the top 100 in the UK at the 60m sprint. She studied biomedical sciences at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

and undertook a Masters at Loughborough University, while doing an analyst internship with British Athletics. Lloyd also co-hosts a podcast titled “Women Who Sport” with Loughborough and Scotland team-mate Sarah Bonar. She has commented on the issues relating to body image for sportswomen: "I play a physical sport. You need to have some muscle behind you so it's getting over that mental block and embracing that. Now being strong is really cool. I want to be that role model that I didn't have."

References

External links

Rhona Lloyd Scottish Rugby Profile PageRhona Lloyd Loughborough Lightning Profile Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Rhona 1996 births Living people Rugby union players from Edinburgh Scotland women's international rugby union players Female rugby union players Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games British women podcasters