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Alisha Joyce-Butchers

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Alisha Joyce-Butchers (née Butchers; born 14 June 1997) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays flanker for Bristol Bears Women and the Wales women's national rugby union team. She made her debut for the Wales rugby union team in 2016 and has played in 29 matches for the national side. Butchers scored her first international try in 2016 in a Women's Six Nations Championship victory over Scotland. She works as an Active Young People Officer and a Girls' Hub Officer while continuing her rugby career.

Alisha Joyce-Butchers
Date of birth (1997-06-14) 14 June 1997 (age 27)
Place of birthSwansea, Wales
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight70 kg (150 lb)
Notable relative(s)Nicky Smith (brother-in-law)
Occupation(s)
  • Active Young People Officer
  • Girls' Hub Officer
Rugby union career
Position(s) flanker
Current team Bristol Bears Women
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–2019 Scarlets Ladies ()
2019–2020 Worcester Warriors Women ()
2020– Bristol Bears Women ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2016–present Wales 35 10
National sevens team
Years Team Comps
Wales 5

Biography

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Butchers' birth was on 14 June 1997 in Swansea, Wales.[1][2] She was educated at Halfway Primary School in Llanelli.[3] Butchers is the sister-of-law of Welsh forward Nicky Smith.[4] As of 2021, she is listed in her Welsh Rugby Union biography as 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) and her weight is 70 kg (150 lb).[1] Butchers plays as either flanker or back-rower in rugby union.[1][5] Outside of rugby, she has worked for the Actif Sport and Leisure as a Sports Mentor and later as an Active Young People Officer full-time since she was 18.[6] She is an ambassador for Vala Health.[7] Since early 2019, Butchers is also employed as a Girls' Hub Officer at Cardiff Blues Community Foundation to increase grassroots rugby at Y Pant School and Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive School in the Pontypridd area.[8][9]

She began playing sport in primary school. Butchers played for Bynea RFC, the Llanelli Schoolboys and the Scarlets under 18s team and the Carmarthen Quins RFC. She competed in the multi-sport 2013 School Games in Sheffield as a member of the gold medal-winning Wales Dragons A rugby union team.[3] Butchers made her international debut for the Wales women's national rugby union team against Ireland at the 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship, replacing Shona Powell Hughes in the second half of the match. She scored her maiden international try in a 23–10 win over Scotland the following week in the same tournament. Butchers went on to make a further 27 appearances for the national side and scored an extra try in the 2017 Women's Six Nations Championship.[1] She has also played five times for the Wales women's national rugby sevens team and scored five tries for them.[2] Butchers was named to the rugby sevens side for the women's rugby sevens tournament at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia but did not play any games due to an ankle injury sustained during a game in the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship.[10][11] She was one of three Welsh women who played in a match for Barbarian F.C. against the United States in 2019 that Barbarian won 34–33.[5][12]

At the club level, she played for Scarlets Ladies until January 2019.[11][13] Butchers signed to play for Premier 15s club Worcester Warriors Women with immediate effect that same month.[11] She did however continue to represent Scarlets at the regional level.[5] In June 2020, she signed to join Bristol Bears Women also of Premier 15 to increase the options available for coach Kim Oliver to select a back row player.[12][14] Butchers fell on her ankle and sustained ligament damage in a training session for Bristol Bears in 2021. Her contract with the team did not cover all the medical costs for the treatment of her injury and the private insurance policy she took out was voided because the club was paying her, forcing her to fundraise online.[4] She did not want to get operated by the National Health Service due to pressures it was under caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and her season would have ended prematurely.[4][15] The situation attracted media attention and Butcher called for better education of problems with insurance in semi-professional women's rugby. She is currently dating fellow Welsh Rugby Union player and Bristol Bears 14 Jasmine Joyce.[15]

Butchers was selected in Wales squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.[16][17]

Butchers has been in a relationship with her Bristol and Wales teammate Jasmine Joyce since 2016,[18] becoming engaged in 2022.[19] They got married in December 2023.[20]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Alisha Butchers". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Alisha Butchers". World Rugby. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Teenage rugby ace Alisha proves she's one of country's top talents: Star Player". Llanelli Star. 2 October 2013. p. 25. ProQuest 1438515802. Retrieved 11 April 2021 – via ProQuest.
  4. ^ a b c Sands, Katie (8 March 2021). "The brutal honesty of Alisha Butchers, the injured Wales rugby player who had to ask for money now telling the game to change". WalesOnline. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Scarlets star helping girls follow in her footsteps: Alisha Butchers". Carmarthen Journal. 22 May 2019. p. 12. ProQuest 2228503859. Retrieved 11 April 2021 – via ProQuest.
  6. ^ "myCareer Profile – Alisha Butchers". Leisure Opportunities. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  7. ^ "Meet Alisha". Vala Health. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  8. ^ Gillespie, Graeme (16 March 2019). "Alisha inspired by pupils to perform against Ireland". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  9. ^ Lazell, Louise (29 March 2019). "Money money money, isn't funny, in a rugby women's world". The Cardiffian. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Commonwealth Games: Wales Sevens duo ruled out of Gold Coast". BBC Sport. 10 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Berkeley, Geoff (10 January 2019). "Alisha Butchers signs for Worcester Valkyries from Scarlets". Worcester News. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Alisha Butchers Signs For Bears Women". Bristol Bears. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  13. ^ Cooper, Jason (7 January 2016). "Butchers try can't prevent Scarlets loss". Llanelli Herald. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Alisha Butchers joins Wales team-mate Jasmine Joyce at Bristol". BBC Sport. 23 June 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  15. ^ a b "Women's rugby: Bristol's Alisha Butchers highlights rugby insurance gap". BBC Sport. 10 March 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  16. ^ Jones, Liz (21 September 2022). "Wales Rugby World Cup squad named". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  17. ^ "Wales: Siwan Lillicrap captains 32-player Rugby World Cup squad featuring 19 tournament debutants". Sky Sports. 21 September 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Wales Women couple celebrate engagement - Welsh Rugby Union". Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions. 7 February 2022.
  19. ^ Sands, Katie (6 February 2022). "Wales rugby team-mates announce engagement with lovely message". Wales Online.
  20. ^ "Wales rugby internationals marry each other in stunning wedding ceremony - Wales Online". WalesOnline.co.uk. 23 December 2023. Archived from the original on 27 December 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
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