Katherine Merchant

Katherine ("Kat") Merchant (born 29 October 1985) is an English female rugby union player who represented her country 58 times and scored 44 tries. She had a 9 year international playing career and was known for her Speedster finishing and killer hand off. Her excellent try to cap ratio made her one of the most feared opponents of her time. She excelled at both 7’s and 15’s, going to both world cups twice. She became a world champion in 2014, which was sadly her last game. She was forced into early retirement for too many concussions. Outside of rugby she is a personal trainer and rugby coach, and in her spare time regularly commentates and delivers motivational talks. Her passion lays within rugby and the fitness industry. She can be regularly seen out with her dog and seeing friends for coffee.

Katherine Merchant
playing for Worcester in 2010
Date of birth (1985-10-29) 29 October 1985
Place of birthGloucester, Gloucestershire, England
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight72 kg (159 lb; 11 st 5 lb)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2000-2014 Worcester ()
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2005-2014  England 58 (220)
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2007-2013  England

Life

Merchant was born in 1985 and was playing serious rugby when she was sixteen. She graduated from Birmingham University in Sport and Exercise Science in 2007.[1]

She was playing for Worcester when she began her nine-year international career during the 2005 Six Nations. She played the 7 player and 15 player game and took part in two World Cups in both variations.[2] She represented England at the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup [3] and was named in the squad for the 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup.[4] She was a member of the squad to the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens [5]

She announced her retirement in September 2014 with immediate effect on medical grounds as she had taken a number of concussions.[2]

In 2015 she was the coach for the Women's rugby team from Sri Lanka.[6]

References
  1. Sport and Fitness Birmingham https://web.archive.org/web/20170425124349/http://www.sport.bham.ac.uk/page.aspx?sitesectionid=748&sitesectiontitle=Rugby+alumni. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2017-08-22. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Trio of Women's Rugby World Cup winners retire". RFU. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  3. BBC Sport (20 August 2010). "England Women storm to opening World Cup win over Irish". Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  4. intheloose.com (10 July 2014). "Street Names England Women's Rugby World Cup Squad". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  5. Alison Donnelly (Scrum Queens) (June 2013). "World Cup 7s Squads". Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  6. ThePapare.com (2015-11-07), Kat Merchant - Sri Lanka Women's Rugby Coach, retrieved 2017-08-22
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