Who is Helena Rowland: Ten things you should know about England’s versatile back

Helena Rowland first made her debut on the international stage in sevens but she is now also playing 15s…

Ten things you should know about Helena Rowland

1. Helena Rowland was born on 19 September 1999 in England. She stands at 5ft 6in (1.68m) and weighs 10st 6lb (66kg).

2. Rowland joined Allianz Premier 15s club Loughborough Lightning in 2020 and has previously competed for Saracens.

3. She first competed internationally for England Sevens, then started to play for the Red Roses when the sevens programme was cut by the RFU during the pandemic.

She made her Test debut for Simon Middleton‘s team in November 2020 against Italy.

4. Rowland was a part of the Team GB sevens squad for the Olympic Games that took place in 2021. The team finished fourth in Tokyo.

5. A versatile player, she has played at international level at both fly-half and centre.

6. Rowland comes from a sporty family as her brother, Dan, plays rugby and her mother, Lisa, used to compete in athletics.

7. In 2016 she sustained a fractured tibia, which ruled her out of the game for six months.

However, she went onto win gold at the 2016 School Games for the South-East team in the same season.

8. Rowland lives with her Loughborough team-mate and Scotland player Helen Nelson.

9. Rowland has spoken about the rivalry between herself and other players vying for the England fly-half shirt.

She told World Rugby: “We’re all just trying to push each other on. I think we all play slightly different games, which is good because we try and pick up different attributes from each other, but it’s definitely a friendly rivalry.”

10. She is studying sport science part-time at Loughborough University.

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