Ellie Kildunne first female Rugby player on BBC Sports Personality Shortlist

Ellie Kildunne, England Women’s rugby player, was nominated for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

She is the first female rugby player ever to be nominated for the award and the first rugby player from England to feature on the nominees list since Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson in 2007.

Her nomination comes on the back of her breakout year, where she made waves in the sport. She was impressive at the Women’s Six Nations and was an integral part of the Red Roses team that won the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup. 

For Women’s rugby fans, this nomination is a worthy recognition of Kildunne’s brilliance. Apart from being an elite athlete, she is also a fan favourite and an inspiration to many aspiring women. Women’s rugby may not be as popular as the men’s game, but its fans are just as passionate.

Some of them express this passion by betting on matches, and they prefer to do so at non-gamstop platforms that are offshore. For these bettors, sportsbooks offering unrestricted access are simply easier to work with. They don't just cover the big matches and leagues; they also cover the lesser-known ones, like the women’s rugby leagues. With Kildunne’s nomination, such bettors have another reason to keep an eye on the matches she plays in.

She was born on 8 September 1999 and grew up in West Yorkshire. She began playing as early as seven years old. Playing at that early age helped her develop skills that have made her the star she is now. When she played for Keighley Albion and Keighley RUFC, she was the only girl on the pitch, but that didn’t stop her from playing

When she attended Woodhouse Grove School, she played with the football team, but when she enrolled at Hartpury College, she went back to her rugby roots. She later got a scholarship to study Sport and Exercise Science at St Mary’s University in Twickenham. 

Throughout her schooling, Kildunne showed promise that she could become a rugby superstar, and she began making waves as early as the Under-18 level when she captained the Yorkshire team and represented England at the U-18 sevens. 

At club level, Kildunne’s career saw her play for Keighley Albion in the rugby league, Keighley RUFC in the rugby union, West Park, Leeds and Castleford. In the 2017-18 season, she joined Gloucester Hartpury in the Premier 15s, and in 2020, she earned a move to Wasps Women. Currently, Kildunne is a key player for Harlequins Women, which she joined in 2021 and helped reach the Premiership Women’s Rugby semi-finals last season. 

The popularity of the league has jumped drastically from last season. Many fans are beginning to see and appreciate the skills of these players. At the start of the 2025/2026 season, gameday attendance increased by an impressive 183% from last year. In another game, it was up by 239%, thanks to the likes of Kildunne.

Most of her fame has come with the England women’s national rugby union team, also known as the Red Roses. She made her debut for the Red Roses in 2018 and was part of the team that won the 2020 Women’s Six Nations Championship. 

In 2024, she was part of the team that won the Six Nations grand slam, and she ended up being the top try scorer in the tournament. In November that same year, she was named the World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards.

At just 26 years old, Ellie Kildunne has shown that she’s a player for the big occasions, and fans believe that her best years are ahead of her.