England’s career-changing Sarah Hunter retires as the world’s most decorated female player
England rugby will say goodbye to an icon at this year’s Women’s Six Nations tournament, where the country’s most capped player, Sarah Hunter, has confirmed she will play her final game.
One of rugby’s most decorated players will come to an end on Saturday after England’s all-time champions Sarah Hunter announced her retirement from the sport.
As well as making 140 appearances for her country to date – 18 more than her nearest rival Ben Youngs – Hunter is the most capped women’s player of all time. However, the 2023 Women’s Six Nations opener against Scotland in her hometown of Newcastle will be the final chapter in an inspirational story.
“A lot of athletes don’t get to choose how and when they call time on their playing career,” Hunter said when he announced his immediate retirement from playing. “I’m very fortunate to be able to finish on my own terms. I couldn’t think of a better way than in the hometown where my rugby journey began.”
Well-respected among his peers, Hunter is headed for a 16-year career that will include 10 Six Nations titles, nine Grand Slams, as well as the Rugby World Cup’s share of highs and lows. Mirror Sport chronicles the key moments in a career that helped transform the sport and lead England women to the most successful era in rugby history.
Humble beginnings and adaptation
Like many rugby women of her generation, Hunter’s introduction to rugby union was not easy. Having initially played rugby league for Longbenton and Gateshead Panthers before ending the mixed gender game, Hunter had to play under-15 sport around the age of 12, and union was better for it.
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‘Sunter’ started playing for Lichfield Ladies in 2004, and at the same time began studying for a degree in sports science and mathematics at Loughborough University. He made his England debut a few years later, in 2007, in an 11-year-old season with the former top outfit.
Starting out as a live centre, Hunter was asked to switch to what would become his home in the back row while representing England under-19s. His coach at Novocastrians RFC, Graeme Cooper, has been credited with helping Hunter through what would have been his stepping stone to the top of rugby.
Awards and recognition
Establishing himself as an England mainstay as he collected numerous Six Nations caps, Hunter would go on to play in four World Cups, including an integral role in their run to the prize in Paris 2014. She described the tournament as a “penny drop” for her perception of women’s rugby and her profile, recalling the backlash her team received after their second FA Women’s Cup (and first since 1994).
“We got there and the streets were full. katy [Daley-Mclean] and I got off the bus with the trophy to the choruses of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot,” he said. BBC Sport. “It wasn’t just our friends and family, it was people who came to watch the game.”
Further accolades soon followed when Hunter replaced Rochelle ‘Rocky’ Clark, the woman who would go on to surpass his own cap record as England captain the following year. She was also awarded an MBE for services to rugby during that time and joined Bristol Ladies before being named the Women’s World Rugby Player of the Year in 2016.
Cap registration and closure
Accustomed to facing adversity, Hunter’s playing future was thrown into doubt after he suffered a nerve injury in his neck in October 2020, resulting in a 13-month absence from the field. But she bounced back, returning in time for the 2021 Women’s Rugby World Cup (postponed to 2022) in New Zealand, where she finally surpassed Clark as the women’s most capped player in her 138th appearance.
The England skipper was devastated by his failure to lead the Red Roses to another World Cup success Down Under, although he could have held his head high when they finished runners-up to the tournament hosts. Clark, 41, was among the first to pay tribute to Hunter as a “fantastic friend and teammate” following Tuesday’s announcement, calling his old friend “a true legend of the game.”
It is fitting that Saturday’s send-off is against Scotland, against whom Hunter made his England debut 16 years ago with a 60-0 record. Just 21 years old at the time, he hopes to have similar success, with more than a decade and a half of family and friends at Kingston Park as part of a larger crowd, and that growth in the game is part of that. Hunter’s rugby legacy will be a record-breaking 141st cap.
