Sarah Alice Hunter (born 19 September 1985) is an English retired rugby union player. She represented at four

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

s. At 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, ...

, Hunter received her 138th international cap, passing

Rochelle Clark Rochelle "Rocky" Clark, (born 29 May 1981) is an English rugby union player for Saracens Ladies, Saracens. She represented at the 2006 Women's Rugby World Cup, 2006, 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup, 2010, 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup, 2014 and 20 ...

to become England's all-time most capped rugby player.

Early life

Hunter was born in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

in 1985. She began playing

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

as a 9-year-old at Goathland Primary School, playing for the Longbenton and Gateshead Panthers. Sarah started playing rugby union at Novocastrians RFC in 2000 and initially played as a strong running centre. She was Players' Player of the Year before transitioning to the back row. Having moved position she was selected for England U19s. In 2004 she left the North East to study Sports Science and Mathematics 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 ...

. She went on to work for the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

as University Rugby Development Office for the South West.

Rugby union career

Sarah Hunter trying England v Italy (cropped)

Club

At 18, Hunter joined the

Lichfield Ladies Lichfield Ladies Rugby Union Football Club is a women's rugby union club based in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. They play their home matches at Cooke Fields and play in the Women's Premiership. They are also the women's team of Lichfield Rugby ...

. She moved to

Bristol Ladies 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 ...

in 2015 and joined Loughborough Lightning in 2017, where she retired in 2023.

International

Hunter made her England debut in 2007. She had trained as a centre but joined the England squad as a back row player after coach Phil Forsyth moved her at Under-19s trials. She led the England team to win 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 ...

and won her hundredth cap in November 2017 as England played Canada in the semi-finals of the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. As of April 2021, Hunter is the most capped England player of all time. In November 2020, Hunter was unable to play in the team's postponed 2020 Six Nations game due to a hamstring injury. She had also injured a nerve in her neck in October 2020, which took doctors five months to fully diagnose and left her unsure of whether she would be able to return to professional rugby. After 13 months off, Hunter returned to the international pitch in April 2021 as England beat Italy in the second round of the 2021 Women's Six Nations. She was named in the England squad for the delayed

held in New Zealand in October and November 2022.

Honours and awards

Hunter was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2015 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2015 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to rugby and

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to rugby union. She was named

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

Women's Player of the Year in 2016. In 2022, Hunter was awarded an honorary degree from Loughborough University in recognition of her outstanding contribution to rugby and achievements at the highest level of international competition.

References

External links

Player Profile
1985 births Living people England women's international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English female rugby union players Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from North Shields Bristol Bears Women players Loughborough Lightning rugby union players Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Loughborough University {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub