Poppy Cleall

Last updated

Poppy Cleall
Date of birth (1992-06-12) 12 June 1992 (age 31)
Place of birth Norwich, Norfolk, England
Height181 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight96 kg (15 st 2 lb)
Notable relative(s) Bryony Cleall (twin sister)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Lock / Number 8
Current team Saracens Women
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2010–2013, 2015–2016 Bristol ()
2013–2015, 2016– Saracens 121 ()
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2011–2013 England U20s
2016– England 65 (110)

Poppy Georgia Cleall (born 12 June 1992) is an English rugby union player. She also plays for Saracens Women at club level. She is the 2021 Six Nations Player of the Year, England Player of the year and the leading all time Premiership try scorer. She was nominated for World Player of the Year in 2021. She has won 5 Grand Slams and 4 Premiership Titles with Saracens.

Contents

International career

Cleall made her England debut at the 2016 Women's Six Nations Championship. In 2017 she featured in every game of the 2017 Six Nations in which England won the Grand Slam. [1]

The same year, she was selected for the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup team as an injury replacement; England reached the final of the tournament.

The following year she again played for England's 2018 Six Nations team, switching between flanker, No. 8 and second row. [1]

Her Six Nations career continued in 2019 when she scored four tries for her country, representing in each of England's games. She was offered a professional contract with the England team in 2019, and played in the 2019 Super Series in San Diego that summer. [1]

Cleall scored a hat trick in England's 66-7 win over Wales in the 2020 Women's Six Nations Championship, and was named player of the match in England's opening game against Scotland. She was also named the Six Nations Player of the Championship. [2]

She captained England for the first time in a record win v New Zealand at Franklin’s Gardens. She went on to captain the side again in the 2022 Six Nations, for a game v Italy. England won the grand slam and Cleall won her fifth title. She was named in the England squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup held in New Zealand in October and November 2022. [3]

Club career

Cleall signed for Bristol Ladies in 2010 and moved to Saracens Women from 2012 to 2016.

She returned to Bristol for the 2016/17 season but rejoined Saracens in 2017, where she continues to play.

During her time at Saracens, Cleall has achieved three back to back Women's Premiership titles. She was named Player of the Match in the 2019 final.

She was named Player of the Match in the 21/22 season semis final as Saracens beat Quins. They won the title after defeating Exeter Chiefs in the final. [4]

Honours

Awarded an Honorary doctorate of Arts from Bournemouth University for her work in women’s rugby and founded the Women’s Rugby Agency.

2021 - Six Nations Player of the Championship

2021 - Nominated for World Player of the Year

2021- England Player of the Year

2021- World Rugby Dream Team of the Year

2017 - Women's Rugby World Cup finalist

Early life and education

Cleall started playing rugby aged six; growing up, she played for Ellingham and Ringwood, Wimborne and Salisbury RFCs. [4]

Her twin sister, Bryony Cleall, also plays rugby for England and Saracens Women. [5]

In 2020, Cleall founded the Women's Rugby Agency to encourage more girls to join the sport. [6] She also co-founded a tuck shop for the England team during the 2021 with teammate Hannah Botterman, providing door-to-door snacks to players as they trained and lived in a hotel for the latter 2020 Six Nations matches due to Coronavirus restrictions. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Cole (rugby union)</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Daniel Richard Cole is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Goode</span> England international rugby union player

Alexander David Goode is an English professional rugby union player playing for Saracens in Premiership Rugby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Ford (rugby union)</span> England international rugby union footballer

George Thomas Ford is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie George</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Jamie Edward George is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and captains the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mako Vunipola</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Mako Vunipola is a professional rugby union player who plays as a loosehead prop for English club Saracens and the England national team. Born in New Zealand to Tongan parents, he qualified for England through residency having lived and been educated in Wales and then England since the age of 7.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Vunipola</span> England international rugby union player

Viliami Vunipola is a professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for Premiership Rugby club Saracens. Born in Australia, he represents England at international level after qualifying on residency grounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elliot Daly</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Elliot Fitzgerald Daly is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a centre for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saracens Women</span> Rugby union club in London

Saracens Women (/ˈsærəsənz/) are an English women's rugby union club based in Hendon, London. They were established in 1989 and currently play in Premiership Women's Rugby, the top level competition of women's rugby in the country. Saracens are the most successful team in the history of the Premier 15s, having won the league a record three times – in 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2021–22. They are also the women's team of Saracens Amateurs, who themselves are affiliated to men's Premiership club Saracens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marlie Packer</span> England international rugby union player

Marlie Marie Packer is an English rugby union player for Saracens and England women. She was part of the winning 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup squad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maro Itoje</span> British & Irish Lions and England international rugby union player

Oghenemaro Miles Itoje is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team.

Leanne Nicole Infante is an English rugby union player. She made her debut for England in 2013 and was a finalist in the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup. At club level, she plays for Saracens.

Benjamin Arthur Earl is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Premiership Rugby club Saracens and the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah McKenna</span> England international rugby union player

Sarah Alison McKenna is an English rugby union and rugby sevens player. She is a member of the England Women's Rugby Team and plays for Saracens Women's at club level.

The 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship was the 20th series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The 2021 tournament was given a change of format from its traditional eight week round-robin format to a four-week format consisting of two pools of three teams with a final, inspired by the format of the Autumn Nations Cup, which replaced the 2020 Autumn Internationals. The tournament was held from 3 to 24 April 2021.

Zoe Eloise Harrison is an English rugby player who plays for the England women's national rugby union team and Saracens Women at club level. She made her international debut for England in 2017 and was offered a full-time contract for the national side in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abby Dow</span> England international rugby union player

Abigail Dow is an English rugby player. She is a member of the England women's national rugby team and a winger for Ealing Trailfinders Women at club level. In November 2023 she was nominated for the World Rugby Women's 15s Player of the Year.

Bryony Antonia Cleall is an English rugby union player. She plays for Harlequins Women at club level and is a member of the England Women's Rugby Team having earned her first cap in the 2019 Women's Six Nations.

Detysha Martin Harper is an English rugby union player. She represents England women's national rugby union team internationally and plays for Sale Sharks at club level.

Holly Nielle Aitchison is an English rugby union player for Bristol Bears Women. She has played international representative rugby at the World Cup, Olympic Games, and Six Nations Championships.

The 2023 Women's Six Nations Championship, known as the TikTok Women's Six Nations for marketing purposes, was the 22nd series of the Women's Six Nations Championship, an annual women's rugby union competition between England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It began on 25 March and concluded on 29 April 2023.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "RFU". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  2. ↑ "Poppy Cleall - On the path to greatness". Six Nations Rugby. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  3. ↑ "Rugby World Cup: Sadia Kabeya and Morwenna Talling in England squad". BBC Sport .
  4. 1 2 "Poppy Cleall". Women's Rugby Agency. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  5. ↑ "Cleall twins aiming to lift Premier 15s title with Saracens and unite in England side". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
  6. ↑ "Poppy Cleall - Women's Rugby Agency". The RPA. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  7. ↑ "Cleall on world's best & England tuck shop". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 May 2021.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.