Who is Natasha Hunt: Ten things you should know about the England scrum-half

Red Roses scrum-half Natasha Hunt is known for her tactical kicks, speed and game management.

Ten things you should know about Natasha Hunt

1. Natasha Hunt was born on 21 March 1989 in Gloucester, England. She stands at 5ft 5in (1.65m) and weighs 10st 6lb (67kg).

2. Hunt joined Allianz Premier 15s club Gloucester-Hartpury in 2018 having previously competed for Bristol and Lichfield.

3. She won her first England cap in 2011 after playing for the country’s age-grade teams and has gone on to make more than 50 appearances for her country.

She was recalled to the Red Roses set-up for the 2022 Women’s Six Nations having not been involved the previous year. She told BBC Sport she had “needed a break” from the international stage, adding: “I was just unhappy. I was not adding to the environment – if anything I was sapping from it. I was clearly upset in different areas of training.”

4. She has also represented England and Great Britain in sevens rugby.

Hunt won a bronze medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and was part of Team GB’s squad for both the 2016 and 2021 Olympics.

5. She won the Rugby World Cup with England in 2014.

6. She had Covid in 2020 and described how the illness affected her. She told World Rugby: “I did struggle a bit with my lungs, I couldn’t really get air into them, and it was all a bit weird.

“I remember being in the (training) session on the Wednesday before the (France) game, which wasn’t even meant to be that savage, and I just felt like I couldn’t breathe so I was a little bit stressed about that because I like to play quite fast and I like to be on it the whole time.”

7. Hunt’s well-known nickname is ‘Mo’ and it comes from her younger sister not being able to pronounce her name as a child.

8. Outside of rugby, Hunt is a qualified teacher.

She has also worked in the media, co-hosting the Nick and Mo show with Nick Heath during the Six Nations and commentating on matches for the BBC.

9. She has named her rugby inspirations as former players Sue Day and Susie Appleby, who is now the Exeter Chiefs coach.

10. Hunt is known for wearing a scrunchie during matches and she told England Rugby: “It started because in the sevens loads of the girls were wearing them and it’s seen as a bit of a younger thing – the girls joked about the fact I was wearing a blue scrunchie and how it was bringing out my eyes.

“Then, when I came back to 15s, the older girls were absolutely rinsing me saying, ‘What are you doing? You need to take that out, it’s not OK.’

“I thought I’m going to wear it even more now, so it became a bit of a thing. Now I just love it – I feel like it knocks a few years off me so I’m embracing it fully.”

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