Sarah Hunter

{{about||the Canadian tennis player|Sarah Hunter (tennis)|the Australian soccer player|Sarah Hunter (soccer)}}

{{infobox rugby biography

| name = Sarah Hunter

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|size=100%}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|9|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = North Shields, Tyne & Wear, England

| image = Sarah Hunter 2022 (cropped).jpg

| caption = Hunter in 2022

| height = {{height|m=1.77}}

| weight = {{cvt|80|kg|stlb|abbr=on}}

| position = Loose forward

| amatyears1 =

| amatteam1 =

| years1 = 2004–2015

| years2 = 2015–2017

| years3 = 2017– 2023

| clubs1 = Lichfield Ladies

| clubs2 = Bristol Ladies

| clubs3 = Loughborough Lightning

| apps1 =

| points1 =

| repyears1 = 2007– 2023

| repteam1 = {{nwrut|England}}

| repcaps1 = 141

| reppoints1 = 150

| coachyears1 = 2023–

| coachteams1 = England (defence)

}}

Sarah Alice Hunter{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/65889468|title=King's Birthday Honours: Sarah Hunter and Ian Wright among those included|publisher=BBC Sport|date=17 June 2023|access-date=17 June 2023}} {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE}} (born 19 September 1985) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. She represented {{nwrut|England}} at four Rugby World Cups.{{Cite web|title=Hunter returns to captain England|url=http://www.lboro.ac.uk/sport/news/2021/april/hunter-returns/|access-date=2021-04-20|website=Loughborough University|language=en}} At the 2021 Rugby World Cup, Hunter received her 138th international cap, passing Rochelle Clark to become England's all-time most capped rugby player.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/63422281|title=How Rugby World Cup redemption drove England captain Sarah Hunter to 139 caps|author=Becky Grey|date=2022-10-28|work=BBC Sport|access-date=2022-10-30|language=en-GB}}

Early life

Hunter was born in North Shields in 1985. She began playing rugby league 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.{{Cite web|title=RFU|url=https://www.englandrugby.com/england/senior-women/squad/sarah-hunter#index|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.englandrugby.com}} She went on to work for the RFU as University Rugby Development Office for the South West.

Rugby union career

File:Sarah Hunter trying England v Italy (cropped).jpg

=Club=

At 18, Hunter joined the Lichfield Ladies. She moved to Bristol Ladies in 2015 and joined Loughborough Lightning in 2017, where she retired in 2023.{{Cite web|title=Who Is Sarah Hunter, Captain Of The Red Roses? {{!}} Rugby Speakers|url=https://rugbyspeakersuk.com/news/who-sarah-hunter-captain-red-roses|access-date=2021-04-20|website=rugbyspeakersuk.com}}

=International=

Hunter made her England debut in 2007.{{Cite news|title=Hunter to win 100th cap for England|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/42053513|access-date=2021-04-20}} 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.{{Cite news|date=2019-08-16|title=Sarah Hunter's journey to the top|language=en-GB|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/key-career-moments/sarah-hunter-interview/|access-date=2021-04-20|issn=0307-1235}} She led the England team to win the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup 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.{{Cite web|title=RFU|url=https://www.englandrugby.com/england/senior-women/squad/sarah-hunter#index|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.englandrugby.com}}

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.{{Cite news|title='I struggled to tie my shoelaces'|language=en-GB|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56676267|access-date=2021-04-20}} 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.{{Cite web|last=April 2021|first=Frank Nickson Sunday 11|title=Match Centre: Italy Women 3-67 England Women|url=http://www.talkingrugbyunion.co.uk/match-centre-italy-women-3-67-england-women/30460.htm|access-date=2021-04-20|website=Talking Rugby Union}} She was named in the England squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand in October and November 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/62958278|title= Rugby World Cup: Sadia Kabeya and Morwenna Talling in England squad|website=BBC Sport}}

Honours and awards

Hunter was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours{{London Gazette

| issue = 61092

| date = 31 December 2014

| page = N20

| supp = y

}}[https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/391413/New_Year_Honours_List_2015.pdf 2015 New Year Honours List] and then Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours, both for services to rugby union.{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B9|date=17 June 2023}}

She was named World Rugby Women's Player of the Year in 2016.{{Cite web|title=RFU|url=https://www.englandrugby.com/england/senior-women/squad/sarah-hunter#index|access-date=2021-04-20|website=www.englandrugby.com}}

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.{{Cite web |date=2022-12-16 |title=England Rugby icon receives honorary degree from Loughborough University |url=https://www.lboro.ac.uk/alumni/news/2022/december/sarah-hunter-hon-degree/ |access-date=2023-07-31 |website=Loughborough University |language=en}}