Jade Knight

Knight's birth was on 16 February 1989,[1] and grew up in Llanelli.[2] Her uncle is the Welsh 52-time capped international rugby union player Mark Taylor.[3] She plays rugby in the scrum-half position,[4][5] and was educated at Ysgol Dewi Sent and Ysgol y Strade. Knight's physical education teacher at secondary school encouraged her to play alongside boys until she prohibited from doing so per school regulations. She matriculated to Swansea University and studied medical genetics.[2] She later went on to study to become a midwife at King's College London,[6] having been inspired from support after giving birth when battling Tokophobia.[5] Knight's dissertation was on researching international athletes and the perspective of being pregnant and giving birth.[7]

She played rugby while studying after reaching an agreement with Imperial College London.[4] Knight combines her part-time midwife work with her rugby career for better family-work balance.[8][9] When the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected the United Kingdom, Knight was required to separate herself from her husband and son to work long shifts at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington for three months.[4][5]

She began competing in rugby when she was 12 years old and went on to played football for Wales at the Under 19 level due to a lack of provision for girls in her local area. A knee injury at age 16 ended her career in football.[2][4][3] Following an operation to her knee that kept her out of sport for four years,[2] Knight was able to make a serious return to playing and tried out touch rugby and later full-contact rugby. She has played for Wales in rugby sevens and mixed touch rugby. Knight also played with Waunarlwydd, before moving to Gorseinon where she captained the team.[4]

Knight was also capped for Wales at the Under 20 level.[1] Although she was due to earn her first international cap at the 2014 Women's Six Nations Championship,[5] during pregnancy, Knight vowed to play for the senior team sometime in the future; she feared that would affect her career adversely. Knight asked a coach to draw up a fitness programme that was altered with each semester.[7] She was shortlisted for the Wales women's national team side for the 2018 Women's Six Nations Championship.[10] Knight made her debut for the Wales national team in a Six Nations match against Scotland and she has gone to be capped a total of six times in her career.[11]

At the club level, Knight played as captain for Richmond Women in the Women's Premiership,[2] and also competed for Cardiff Quins, Scarlets Ladies and Dragons.[2][4][12] She won the 2017–18 Welsh Regional Championship before joining Saracens Women of the Premier 15s as a frequent player of the development side midway through the 2018–19 season.[1][6][8]