Donna Kennedy

Donna Kennedy (born 16 February 1972) is a Scottish rugby union coach and former international player who played for the national team from 1993 to 2010. She was the world's most-capped women's player from 2004 to 2016 and the first Scottish player — woman or man — to reach 100 international caps. As of November 2017, she remains the most-capped player in Scotland with 115 caps.[1]

For the Canadian politician, see Donna Kennedy-Glans.

Donna Kennedy
Full nameDonna Kennedy
Date of birth (1972-02-16) 16 February 1972
Rugby union career
Position(s) Back row
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
  Biggar ()
  Heriot Watt rugby ()
  Edinburgh Wanderers ()
  Leeds ()
  Edinburgh Accies ()
  Royal High Corstorphine ()
  Worcester Ladies ()
Correct as of 2 January 2018
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
1993–2010 Scotland 115
Correct as of 2 January 2018
Teams coached
Years Team
 –2017 Worcester Valkyries
Correct as of 2 January 2018

Kennedy was named the IRB[lower-alpha 1] International Women's Personality of the Year in 2004. In 2015, the Donna Kennedy Cup, an annual top-level women's rugby competition, was launched in her honour. In 2017, she was inducted into Scotland's Rugby Hall of Fame.

Club rugby

Kennedy was born on 16 February 1972.[2] She started playing rugby with Biggar RFC around 1991 aged 19.[3] She then played for the Heriot Watt rugby team.[4] In 1995, she played for Edinburgh Wanderers.[5]

After playing for Leeds briefly, Kennedy returned to Scotland where she played for the Edinburgh Accies.[4] The Accies became the Royal High Corstorphine and she played for them until 2004.[6][7] She played for Worcester in 2005 and 2006.[8][9]

International career

In 1993, Kennedy made her debut in a match against Ireland in what was Scotland's first women's full-cap international.[10][11] She played in the 1994 Women's Rugby World Cup that was hosted in Scotland.[3] She was part of the first women's team to play on the main pitch at Murrayfield stadium in November 2012.[12]

In February 2004, Kennedy 69th international match equalled the Scottish women’s record.[7][13] She played on the wing early in the 2004 Women's Six Nations Championship despite normally playing as a number 8.[13][14][15] In April 2004, she gained a 74th Scotland cap and became the world's most–capped woman rugby player, surpassing England's Gill Burns.[16] Kennedy's 82nd cap equalled the Scottish record that Gregor Townsend had made for the men's team.[8]

In September 2006, Scotland played their 100th match and finished sixth at the IRB Women's Rugby World Cup. Kennedy had played in 95 of Scotland’s matches and she intended to retire.[17] She captained the side against Wales in February 2007.[18] On 21 March 2007 she played in the final game of the 2007 Women's Six Nations Championship, gaining her 100th cap and becoming the first woman in the world and the first Scot of either gender to reach this total.[10]

Kennedy played in 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup and scored a try against Sweden.[19] She retired from international rugby in 2010.[20] Her world record for the most international caps was surpassed by England's Rochelle Clark on 19 November 2016.[21] As of November 2017, she remains the most-capped player in Scotland with 115 caps.[1]

Coaching

Kennedy was announced as the coach for the Scottish Women's Rugby Union Academy team in 2007.[22] She became an assistant coach for the Scotland under-20 women's side in 2011.[23] She subsequently became head coach at Women's Premiership side Worcester Ladies,[24] and later became director of rugby as the club was renamed Worcester Valkyries.[25] before announcing in February 2017 that she would step down from that role at the end of 2017.[26]

Honours

In 2004, Kennedy was awarded the IRB International Women's Personality of the Year.[27]

The Donna Kennedy Cup, an annual Scottish women’s rugby cup competition, was named in her honour starting in 2015. The annual event was launched with a team selected from Glasgow and Caledonia players taking on a select side from Edinburgh and the Borders.[28]

In November 2017, Kennedy was inducted into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame.[29] The Scotland national team awards a trophy in her name.[30]

Footnotes
  1. International Rugby Board, known since November 2014 as World Rugby.

References
  1. "Fabulous Four inducted into Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame | Scottish Rugby Union". www.scottishrugby.org. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  2. "Watt makes Scotland debut". BBC Sport. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  3. "Donna Kennedy ready to embrace final tilt at World Cup glory". The Scotsman. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  4. "We salute Scotland's centurions: Donna Kennedy". The Scrum Magazine. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  5. "Wanderers' Murrayfield win". The Herald. Glasgow. 27 November 1995. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  6. "Women face test against auld enemy". The Scotsman. 2 February 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  7. "Kennedy switched on her big day". The Herald. 6 February 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  8. "Kennedy to match Townsend record". The Herald. 17 March 2005. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  9. "Women switch team round for Wales clash". 10 February 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  10. Ferrie, Kevin (21 March 2007). "A salute to Scottish rugby's only centurion, Donna Kennedy". The Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  11. "Watt makes Scotland debut". 11 February 2004. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  12. "WOMAN'S RUGBY: Lee set to celebrate in style". The Scotsman. 23 November 2002. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  13. "Thomson ready for Dublin return". The Scotsman. 25 March 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  14. "We salute Scotland's centurions: Donna Kennedy - SCRUM". SCRUM. 28 October 2017. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  15. Griffiths, John (30 July 2015). What is a Loose-head?: The Mysteries of Rugby Explained. Pavilion Books. ISBN 9781910232811.
  16. "Kennedy caps it all for Scots". The Scotsman. 20 April 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  17. "Scot ends record-breaking career". BBC News. 19 September 2006. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  18. "Scotland W 0-10 Wales W". BBC Sport. 10 February 2007. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  19. "Scotland Women beat Sweden Women 32-5 at World Cup". BBC Sport. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  20. "Saturday Essay: Scotland's in the mood for change ... so let's change how we view women in sport". The National. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  21. "England women lose to NZ as Rochelle Clark sets caps record". BBC News. 19 November 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  22. "New Era Begins For Women's Game". www.edinburghrugby.org (Press release). Edinburgh Rugby. 24 October 2007. Archived from the original on 3 January 2018.
  23. "Karen Findlay takes reins from Gary Parker". The Scotsman. 28 January 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  24. "Worcester Ladies looking for new recruits". warriors.co.uk (Press release). 28 July 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  25. "Director of rugby Donna Kennedy targeting Women's Premiership title for Worcester Valkyries". Worcester News. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  26. Morgan, Ian (28 February 2017). "Worcester Valkyries will join Women's Super Rugby competition but Donna Kennedy is stepping down". Worcester News. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  27. "Burger best as Kennedy and Fleming also rewarded". The Scotsman. 30 November 2004. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  28. Bathgate, Stuart (9 September 2015). "Munro has eyes opened by new challenge". The Herald. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  29. Goldthorp, Craig (16 November 2017). "Lanark women's rugby ace Donna Kennedy put in Hall of Fame". Carluke Gazette. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  30. "Rugby History | Sports Heritage Scotland". sportsheritagescotland.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
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