Sarah Elizabeth Beckett (born 14 February 1999) is a professional English rugby union player. She represents England women's national rugby union team internationally and plays for Gloucester-Hartpury at club level.[1]
| Date of birth | 14 February 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 96 kg (15 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Charlie Beckett (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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International career
editBeckett made her England debut in November 2018, starting in an 57–5 victory of USA Women. She featured in every game as England won the 2019 Women's Six Nations Championship Grand Slam.[2][3][4]
She played in all Autumn Internationals and 2020 Women's Six Nations matches.[5]
Club career
editBeckett made her debut in the Premier 15s for Waterloo Ladies aged 18. The club was renamed Firwood Waterloo Ladies Rugby Football Club for sponsorship reasons. She won the Gill Burns' Ladies Championship with Firwood in the 2016/17 season.[1] In the same season, she also won the Gill Burns' Ladies County Championship as captain of the Lancashire and North of England U18 team.[6]
As the only professional rugby player at Firwood, she moved to Harlequins Women in 2019 in a bid to help her retain professional standards.[7]
Early life and education
editSarah has a twin sister called Kate who didn't play rugby until she attended Leicester University. Their older brother Charlie Beckett is professional a rugby union player. Aged 8 Sarah tried to tackle her older brother but broke her arm.[8] Her father, uncle and grandfather all played rugby for Waterloo.[9]
Sarah attended Range High School in Formby, Merseyside, where former England and Waterloo captain Gill Burns was her head of house.[6] She joined Waterloo RFC aged seven. Beckett completed the U20s trials twice for England and didn't make the squad but eventually made it after Matt Ferguson, the then England forwards coach, saw her playing for Firwood at age 18.[10]
After a gap year spent teaching PE at primary schools, she went on to study international disaster management at university but left after ten weeks as her rugby training for England interfered with her studies. She also plays guitar.[7]
References
edit- ^ a b "RFU". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ "RFU".
- ^ "Harlequins Women sign England Number Eight Sarah Beckett". www.quins.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ March 2019, Chris Heal Friday 15. "Sarah Beckett". Talking Rugby Union. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Cartwright, Elizabeth (2021-02-15). "Who could guide the Red Roses to World Cup glory". Last Word on Rugby. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ a b "Sarah Beckett". www.ultimaterugby.com.
- ^ a b "Sarah Beckett on Harlequins, England and the World Cup". www.rugbyworld.com.
- ^ "Sarah and Charlie Beckett interview: 'She is a better rugby player than me - I can't say how proud I am'". www.telegraph.co.uk.
- ^ Rowan, Kate (2020-10-10). "Sarah and Charlie Beckett interview: 'She is a better rugby player than me - I can't say how proud I am'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
- ^ "Sarah Beckett on Harlequins, England and the World Cup". Rugby World. 2020-09-18. Retrieved 2021-05-26.