Marlie Packer has been a consistent performer for club and country for more than a decade
Who is Marlie Packer: Ten things you should know about the Red Roses back-row
Saracens and England flanker Marlie Packer has consistently impressed for club and country for more than a decade. Here are a few facts and figures about her…
Ten things you should know about Marlie Packer
1. Marlie Packer was born on 2 October 1989 in Yeovil, England. She stands at 5ft 5in (1.65m) and weighs 11st 7lb (73kg).
2. She won her first cap for England in 2008 and went onto win the Rugby World Cup in 2014. She won her 50th cap during RWC 2017.
3. Packer has won two Premier 15s titles with Saracens while she has previously played for Bath and Bristol.
4. She starred at the 2013 Sevens World Cup in Moscow.
5. She was awarded a full-time playing contract in 2019 and quit her plumbing job to become a professional player.
6. Packer and her partner Natasha have a son, Oliver, together.
7. After winning the World Cup, she became an Honorary Freewoman of Yeovil and was presented with a silver salver.
8. Packer’s father died shortly before she won the World Cup and she opened up about her relationship with him to The Telegraph: “That was quite a difficult time for me but my dad was never a presence in my life every day.
“People say that their fathers are their idols but for me, my dad was like when you crave something you never have. I just craved him so much because I never had him.”
9. She was named Saracens Coaches’ Player of the Season in 2018 and was also the league’s top try-scorer in that campaign.
10. She was fined and banned from driving for 17 months for drink driving in 2018 and she feared she wouldn’t play for England again after the incident.
Packer told The Guardian: “I thought it was all over. I’d lose my job and lose my rugby, lose the thing I love doing, the thing I strive to be better at every day of my life. There’s no feeling in the world like putting on that white shirt with that red rose.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re playing in any other country or at Twickenham, there’s just no better feeling.”
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