feature image credits via Getty Images from left to right. top: Jack Thomas – World Rugby / Contributor; Harry Murphy – RFU / Contributor; Karl Bridgeman – World Rugby / Contributor; Paul Harding / Stringer; Karl Bridgeman – World Rugby / Contributor; Harry Murphy – World Rugby / Contributor. bottom: Scott Taetsch / Stringer; Karl Bridgeman – World Rugby / Contributor; Nathan Stirk / Stringer; Jack Thomas – World Rugby / Contributor.
The Women’s Rugby World Cup kicked off today, a fact I would have been somewhat indifferent to mere months ago, but I’ve recently become very invested in professional women’s rugby (unsurprisingly, the U.S. rugby queen Ilona Maher impacted this journey, though you won’t see her name below, as she’s sadly straight, but she does seem very aware of and happy about a large part of her fanbase skewing gay). Rugby is such a cool and intense sport. The athleticism and strength it requires are striking. If you’re newer to it, there’s no better event than the 2025 Women’s World Cup to tune into to brush up on the game and learn the players — many of whom are gay gay GAY.
No, seriously, there are so many out queer rugby players competing at this international tournament, which features 16 teams split across four pools. OutSports reports there are over 50 out LGBTQ+ players. Among those players, there are also several same-team and cross-team rugby4rugby relationships. Below, I’ll take you through each of the openly queer-identifying rugby players, who they’re dating, and what you should know about them if you’re tuning into the Women’s Rugby World Cup, which opened today with USA vs. England (it was an absolute blowout, with England clobbering the U.S. — I’m still recovering emotionally). You can stream it all on Paramount+. And I’ve indicated below where players who are dating each other will have to face off against each other.
Pool A
England
CORK, IRELAND – APRIL 22: Hannah Botterman and Holly Aitchison of England inspect the pitch prior to the TikTok Women’s Six Nations match between Ireland and England at Musgrave Park on April 22, 2023 in Cork, Ireland. (Photo by Catherine Ivill – RFU/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)
Aitchison dates fellow teammate Hannah Botterman. The two met as teenagers in college and have been long-time partners AND long-time teammates, playing on the England professional rugby club the Saracens together as well as for the national team. Aitchison said of queerness in rugby in an interview with Pink News: “In rugby, and in women’s sports in general, it’s definitely a lot more acceptable for people to be in relationships in the team and to be gay. We’re really lucky to be in an environment where we can be ourselves and are not judged.”
Bern is a prop for the national team as well as for the Bristol Bears, which Ilona Maher played on last season. Bern dates teammate Mackenzie Carson. For the World Cup, they’ll be playing together, but they recently had to play against each other for their respective teams in the Premiership Women’s Rugby semi-finals. They play the same position on opposing teams, but as they explain in this very cute interview, they put their personal relationship to the side when a match starts. It’ll be fun to see them playing together on the same side of the pitch in the World Cup.
Botterman is in a relationship with Aitchison, and they used to play on the Saracens together, but Botterman is now with the Bristol Bears. While they met when they were 16, Aitchison wasn’t quite ready to come out, and they went their separate ways before eventually reuniting on the Saracens. They’ve been officially together since 2020. In Pink News, Botterman said of LGBTQ+ representation in rugby: “As far as sports go, rugby is probably up there with better representation, more so than in other sports.”
Here we have the other half of the Bern/Carson power couple. Again, it’ll be fun to see these two playing together instead of on opposing teams, though I’m also a sucker for the drama of partners having to play against each other. “It’s definitely an interesting dynamic that I’ve not really experienced before,” Carson said of playing against her partner in an Independent interview. “But it’s also really special because not many people get to do this, and to do it with your partner is quite cool.
Hooker Cokayne plays for Sale Sharks, and she dates fellow rugby player Bethan Dainton, who is not appearing at the World Cup.
If it seems like the entire England team is dating, well, they kind of are! Galligan is in a relationship with Marlie Packer. And heading into the World Cup, they recently got engaged! Fiancees who scrummage together!
Jones dates her Trailfinders teammate Celia Quansah, who is not appearing at the World Cup. Jones had been openly gay for longer than Quansah, who says she was “quite new to the lesbian scene” when they started talking. Jones’ sister had come out as bisexual before her, which she says made telling her family easier.
Winger Moloney-MacDonald is married to rugby player Cliodhna Moloney, who will indeed be playing at the World Cup as well but for Ireland. So we’ve got a pair of cross-team wives here! As their teams are in different pools, they won’t have to face off in the group stage of the tournament. The earliest they could possibly face each other wouldn’t be until the semi-finals, so we’ll see.
Packer is engaged to Galligan. She has a son named Oliver with her previous partner.
Australia
More cross-team romance! Cramer dates Team USA prop Charli Jacoby. The two play together for the Exeter Chiefs. As both teams are in the same pool, the two will play against each other in the group stage, when Australia and USA face off on August 30.
USA
While this is technically Hawkins’ second World Cup, she never actually played on the pitch last time around. After taking a brief break from the sport, she’s back as flyhalf. She has been in a relationship with her girlfriend Liv for over two years.
Prop Jacoby dates Cramer of Team Australia. Jacoby has said of celebrating Pride in rugby: “Celebrating pride to me is about living a life of authenticity. It’s about being proud of the person you are regardless of outside influences. My parents raised me to be a good person, a confident person and most importantly, proud of the person I am and I don’t ever intend to change. I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community (emphasis on the ‘L’).”
Starting Lock Jarrell-Searcy got married to her Sale Sharks teammate Kay Jarrell-Searcy earlier this summer. Kay is not set to appear at the World Cup.
After winning the Bronze with Team USA at the Paris Olympics, Kelter proposed to her girlfriend and World Cup teammate Kathryn Treder.
Kathryn Treder
Treder is engaged to Kelter, and the proposal video really is so damn cute. Now the fiancees will play hard together in the World Cup!
Team Captain Zackary is making her third World Cup appearance. She is married to her partner and former teammate Mandy Wagner.
Pool B
Canada
I’m a big fan of Apps, who is queer and also has alopecia. My sister also has alopecia, and Apps has been a really great advocate for alopecia awareness. She’s also openly queer. “Rugby has been really positive and inclusive, especially for the queer community,” Apps told SportsBoom.
The daughter of an NHL player, Beukeboom is in a relationship with rugby player Kendra Cousineau.
Back row forward de Goede is dating rugby player Emma Taylor. The two played together on the Saracens.
Farries is a very vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ inclusivity in rugby and sports, hosting Pride conversations with fellow players and speaking out on how the collaboration of rugby mirrors LGBTQ+ community. She’s married to Team Scotaland’s player Caity Mattinson. Their teams will play against each other on September 6.
Schell is dating Team Scotland player Rachel Malcolm. Their two teams will face each other on September 6.
Scotland
Leicester Tigers teammates Bartlett and Natasha Jones are engaged.
Brebner-Holden is in a relationship with Team Scotland and Loughborough Lightning teammate Elis Martin.
Lisa Cockburn has been married to her wife Lisa Campbell for over three years. The Lisas!
Konkel married her wife Helen Roberts in 2022. They ended up proposing to each other on the same day without having planned it that way. Cute!
Malcolm is dating Team Canada’s Julie Schell, and the two spent a lot of off-season time together. Their respective teams are set to play against each other on September 6.
Martin is dating fellow teammate Brebner-Holden.
Mattison is married to Team Canada’s Paige Farries. Mattison plays for Gloucester–Hartpury, while Farries is with Saracen, so they don’t see each other much, but they both have been training hard for their respective World Cup 2025 careers.
Nelson has been in a 10+ year relationship with professional rugby union referee Hollie Davidson, who will be ref’ing this year’s World Cup.
Young plays for Team Scotland as well as the Loughborough Lightning. She has a partner of a couple years named Alicia.
Wales
Jones is in a relationship with English player Sarah Beckett who will not be making a World Cup appearance.
I’m obsessed with how often married queer rugby players take each other’s last names! Jasmine is married to Welsh teammate Alisha Joyce-Butchers, who is not playing at the World Cup but who is pregnant with their first child.
Keight is making her World Cup debut.
Powell is in a relationship with Harlequins teammate Lucy Burgess.
Rose has been a vocal advocate for awareness around living with borderline personality disorder. Joining rugby also helped her come out as queer. She has spoken about the inclusivity of rugby in Diva magazine: “It’s so open,” Rose said. “We will take anyone if you can catch and run with a ball. No one judges.”
Pool C
New Zealand
Making her World Cup debut, Bayfield has been in a long-term relationship with her partner Rikki Rawleigh.
Together with her wife Taklia Brazier, Kelly has two sons.
She’s queer, but she’s also a cop in New Zealand.
Woodman-Wickliffe is an absolute legend, up there with Ilona Maher in terms of name recognition even for those only casually familiar with the sport. She actually retired after the Paris Olympics, but guess what! She’s BACK. We love a comeback. She’s married to Black Ferns teammate Renee Woodman-Wickliffe. They’ve been together since 2013 and married in 2022. They’re one of THE rugby power couples. And while Portia has picked up her boots again, Renee is retired.
Ireland
Fowley has been married to her wife since March 2024. She and her wife Mary met playing on Ireland’s Connacht rugby team.
Team Ireland’s Hogan has spoken about the inclusivity of rugby: “Identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel like I can be unapologetically myself which is a great feeling. I’m not alone and I’m welcome wherever I go.”
Married to Team England’s Claudia Moloney-MacDonald, Cliodhna could face her wife in the semi-finals of the World Cup. They were married earlier this summer, and several out pro rugby players were in attendance, including teammate Fowley.
Flyhalf O’Brien is in a relationship with fellow Irish rugby player Katie Whelan, who is not making a World Cup appearance.
Spain
Perez is making her World Cup debut and appears to have a girlfriend named Paula.
Pool D
France
Arbez’s partner Sarah-Maude Lachance is a Canadian rugby union player but is not appearing at the World Cup.
Boulard has been in a relationship with her partner Agathe Lee for seven years.
French teammates Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Laure Sansus previously vied for just one spot on the French national team in 2022. They’re now married. When they got married in 2023, a fellow rugby teammate served as their witness.
Another queer parent competing at the World Cup, Hooker Sochat had a daughter with her wife Adele in 2022.
Italy
Italian Lock Duca also competed for Team Italy at the World Cup in 2022 (which was actually the 2021 World Cup but had to be delayed due to the pandemic). She is in a relationship with teammate Michela Sillari.
Flyhalf Gurioli appears to be in a relationship, according to Instagram.
Sillari is dating teammate Duca. This is her third World Cup.
South Africa
Hanekom is the only out queer player for South Africa. She’s 24, and this is her World Cup debut.
Brazil
Fioravanti was one of the many out LGBTQ+ athletes who competed at both the Paris and Tokyo Olympics in recent years.
Prioste is married to Brazilian rugby player Brena Prioste, who is not competing at the World Cup this year.
And there you have it, folks! If this long list (over 50!) of super muscular queer women doesn’t convince you to tune into the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, well, I cannot relate! Did I miss someone? Let me know!
