Sue Dorrington (born 10 June 1958) is a former 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 and pioneer of the women's game, in England and internationally.

Biography

Dorrington was born and raised in

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, USA. She started playing rugby in the early eighties and moved to London in 1983 for more competitive rugby. She played for

Richmond Women Richmond Women, formally Finchley RFC, is a women's rugby union team based in Richmond, London, England. They were founded in 1986 and played in the Women's Premiership. They are also the women's team of Richmond F.C. History Richmond Women were ...

and represented both

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, and

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 ...

in test matches. Dorrington and three of her Richmond teammates —

Deborah Griffin Deborah Griffin is a pioneer of the growth of women's rugby, both in England and globally. Biography Griffin took up the sport of rugby at university in the 1970s, and also played rugby with the Richmond Women, Richmond Women's Rugby Club. She ...

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guillot ...

, and

Mary Forsyth Mary Forsyth is a pioneer of women's rugby union, in England and internationally. Biography Forsyth was born in Pittsburgh, US. She was a high school athletics prospect when she enrolled at Pennsylvania State University, Penn State University ...

, organized the first Women's Rugby World Cup in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1991. She had to balance her role on the Women’s Rugby World Cup Organising Committee and also as England’s starting hooker at the World Cup. She missed the official opening ceremony as she had to take care of Griffin’s daughter, and then line up at hooker for England the following day. Dorrington later captained England against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at the

1994 World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the countr ...

. She did not get to play in the final when England beat defending champions the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

38–23. She played her last test for England in 1997. She continued to play for Richmond and is the only player to represent Richmond for over three decades. Dorrington was also Richmond’s first-ever female vice-president.

World Rugby Hall of Fame

Dorrington, Griffin, Cooper, and Forsyth were inducted into the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

in a special ceremony during 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, ...

semi-finals at Eden Park on 5 November 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorrington, Sue Living people 1958 births English female rugby union players England women's international rugby union players