:Jade Knight
{{Short description|Wales international rugby union player (born 1989)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Jade Knight
| birth_name = Jade Phillips
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1989|02|16|df=y}}
| birth_place = Llanelli, Wales
| school = Ysgol y Strade
| university = Swansea University
King's College London
| spouse = Mark Knight
| children = 1
| occupation = Midwife
| ru_currentposition = Scrum-half
| ru_currentteam = Saracens Women
| years1 =
| clubs1 = Richmond Women
| points1 =
| ru_nationalyears = 2018–present
| ru_nationalteam = Wales
| ru_nationalcaps = 6
| ru_nationalpoints =
}}
Jade Knight ({{Nee}} Phillips; born 16 February 1989) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for Saracens Women of the Premier 15s and the Wales women's national rugby union team. She earned her first international cap for Wales in a 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship and she has also played for Richmond Women in the Women's Premiership. Knight works as a midwife while continuing her rugby career.
Personal background
Knight's birth was on 16 February 1989,{{cite web|title=Jade Knight|url=https://www.saracens.com/squads/jade-knight/|publisher=Saracens|access-date=4 April 2021}} and grew up in Llanelli.{{cite news|title=Llanelli's Jade Knight selected for women's Welsh squad for 2018 Six Nations|url=https://www.llanellionline.news/llanellis-jade-knight-selected-womens-welsh-squad-2018-six-nations/|work=Llanelli News|date=31 January 2018|access-date=4 April 2021|archive-date=28 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221128095607/https://llanellionline.news/llanellis-jade-knight-selected-womens-welsh-squad-2018-six-nations/|url-status=dead}} Her uncle is the Welsh 52-time capped international rugby union player Mark Taylor.{{Cite web|last=Botcherby|first=Elizabeth|date=12 November 2020|title=Triple threat: Saracens star Jade Knight on midwifery, motherhood and rugby|url=https://medium.com/@elizabethbotcherby.no3/triple-threat-saracens-star-jade-knight-on-midwifery-motherhood-and-rugby-91b051a572db|access-date=26 May 2021|website=Medium|language=en}} She plays rugby in the scrum-half position, and was educated at Ysgol Dewi Sent and Ysgol y Strade. Knight's physical education teacher at secondary school encouraged her to play alongside boys until she prohibited from doing so per school regulations. She matriculated to Swansea University and studied medical genetics. She later went on to study to become a midwife at King's College London,{{cite web|title=Jade Knight: Rugby Union|url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/jade-knight|access-date=4 April 2021|publisher=King's College London}} having been inspired from support after giving birth when battling Tokophobia.{{cite news|date=1 April 2020|title=Knight living apart from son to support mums-to-be during coronavirus|work=Enfield Independent|url=https://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/sport/worldcup2010/world_cup_news/18351180.knight-living-apart-son-support-mums-to-be-coronavirus/|access-date=4 April 2021}} Knight's dissertation was on researching international athletes and the perspective of being pregnant and giving birth.{{cite news|last=Rowan|first=Kate|title=Special report: How mothers battle to come back in rugby|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2018/12/21/jade-knight-interview-fight-return-rugby-having-baby/|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=21 December 2018|access-date=4 April 2021}}
International career
She played rugby while studying after reaching an agreement with Imperial College London. Knight combines her part-time midwife work with her rugby career for better family-work balance.{{cite web|last=Mahmood|first=Abdullah|title=Jade Knight: I am just trying to do my best, just like everyone else|url=https://www.saracens.com/i-am-just-trying-to-do-my-best-just-like-everyone-else-jade-knight/|publisher=Saracens|date=22 March 2020|access-date=4 April 2021}} When the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the United Kingdom, Knight was required to separate herself from her husband and son to work long shifts at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington for three months.{{cite news|last=Lewis|first=Ian|date=15 January 2021|title=Llanelli mum juggled being a midwife on Covid-19 frontline and professional rugby career|work=South Wales Evening Post|url=https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/llanelli-mum-juggled-being-a-midwife-on-covid-19-frontline-and-professional-rugby-career/|access-date=3 April 2021}}
She began competing in rugby when she was 12 years old and went on to played football for Wales at the Under 19 level due to a lack of provision for girls in her local area. A knee injury at age 16 ended her career in football. Following an operation to her knee that kept her out of sport for four years, Knight was able to make a serious return to playing and tried out touch rugby and later full-contact rugby. She has played for Wales in rugby sevens and mixed touch rugby. Knight also played with Waunarlwydd, before moving to Gorseinon where she captained the team.
Knight was also capped for Wales at the Under 20 level. Although she was due to earn her first international cap at the 2014 Women's Six Nations Championship, during pregnancy, Knight vowed to play for the senior team sometime in the future; she feared that would affect her career adversely. Knight asked a coach to draw up a fitness programme that was altered with each semester. She was shortlisted for the Wales women's national team side for the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship.{{cite news|title=Quartet eye first caps|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/1990398198|work=Carmarthen Journal|date=24 January 2018|access-date=4 April 2021|page=11|id={{ProQuest|1990398198}} |url-access=subscription}} Knight made her debut for the Wales national team in a Six Nations match against Scotland and she has gone to be capped a total of six times in her career.{{cite web|title=Jade Knight|url=https://www.wru.wales/women/jade-knight/|publisher=Welsh Rugby Union|access-date=4 April 2021}}
Club career
At the club level, Knight played as captain for Richmond Women in the Women's Premiership, and also competed for Cardiff Quins, Scarlets Ladies and Dragons.{{Cite web|last=Bicknell|first=Martyn|date=26 October 2018|title=Knight Added to Wales Women Squad|url=https://www.dragonsrugby.wales/news/2018/october/knight-added-to-wales-women-squad.html|access-date=4 April 2021|publisher=Dragons}} She won the 2017–18 Welsh Regional Championship before joining Saracens Women of the Premier 15s as a frequent player of the development side midway through the 2018–19 season.{{cite web|last=Thurston|first=Emma|title=Jade Knight discusses the feelings of uncertainty in women's rugby|url=https://www.skysports.com/rugby-union/news/12321/12044227/jade-knight-discusses-the-feelings-of-uncertainty-in-womens-rugby|publisher=Sky Sports|date=12 August 2020|access-date=4 April 2021}}
References
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Category:Rugby union players from Llanelli
Category:Alumni of Swansea University
Category:Alumni of King's College London
Category:21st-century Welsh sportswomen
Category:Welsh female rugby union players
Category:Wales women's international rugby union players
Category:Rugby union scrum-halves
Category:People educated at Ysgol y Strade
Category:Wales international women's rugby sevens players
Category:Welsh rugby sevens players