Abbie Fleming

Abbie Fleming

Date of birth	(1996-03-31) 31 March 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Exeter, England
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	74 kg (163 lb)
Occupation(s)	Physiotherapist, rugby player
Rugby union career
Position(s) Flanker / Lock Current team Exeter Chiefs Women Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) Llandaff North () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) Cardiff Blues (0) 2020– Exeter Chiefs 27 (0) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2019– Wales 3

Abbie Fleming (born 31 March 1996) is a Welsh rugby union player who plays flanker for the Wales women's national rugby union team and lock for Exeter Chiefs in the Premier 15s.[1] She made her international debut for Wales against Spain in 2019.[2][3]

Rugby career

Club career

Fleming began playing rugby at the age of 12. Following a move to Wales from her hometown of Exeter she played for Llandaff North RFC and then Cardiff Blues in Welsh regional rugby,[2] captaining the side in the summer of 2019.[4][3] She joined Exeter Chiefs in 2020.[2][3]

International career

Fleming won her first cap against Spain in the 2019 Autumn Internationals[2] and subsequently represented Wales at the 2021 Six Nations Championship.[5] She has also played against the Barbarians at the Principality Stadium.[2]

In January 2022, She was one of 31 Welsh players who have received full-time contracts.[6][7] She was selected for Wales sevens squad for the Lisbon leg of the 2022 Rugby Europe Sevens Championship Series.[8]

Fleming has won three caps in her rugby career to date.[1] She played in the warm-up match against Canada ahead of the World Cup.[9][10] She was selected in Wales squad for the 2021 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.[11][12]

Personal life

Fleming was temporarily unable to play rugby following an ACL reconstruction procedure in April 2019.[4]

Outside of rugby, Fleming is a qualified community and hospital physiotherapist in Bridgend, South Wales.[2][13] During the COVID-19 pandemic she was on the NHS frontline working as part of the respiratory on-call rota at Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend.[14][7]

References

1. "Abbie Fleming". Welsh Rugby Union | Wales & Regions. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
2. "Abbie Fleming". www.exeterchiefs.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
3. Garrett, Olivia (2022-03-29). "Abbie Fleming is tackling change and breaking through the grass ceiling". Further. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
4. www.uprisevsi.co.uk, upriseVSI. "Inspirational Cardiff Blues women stars on the front line of battle against Covid-19". upriseVSI. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
5. World, Rugby (2021-04-22). "Wales Women's Six Nations Squad 2021 – Scotland 27-20 Wales". Rugby World. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
6. Masters, Tom (2022-07-06). "Wales Women award 17 further contracts as Cunningham extends stay". TikTok Women’s Six Nations. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
7. Smith, Annie (2022-02-15). "Abbie Fleming: From the pandemic frontline to playing in the Six Nations". The Cardiffian. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
8. "Fleming added to Wales Sevens for Lisbon". BBC Sport. 2022-06-23. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
9. Armitage, Megan (2022-08-26). "Wales set to face Canada in first warm-up match". TikTok Women’s Six Nations. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
10. "Canada coast to win over Wales in Halifax". Americas Rugby News. 2022-08-27. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
11. Jones, Liz (2022-09-21). "Wales Rugby World Cup squad named". Welsh Rugby Union. Retrieved 2022-09-22.
12. "Wales: Siwan Lillicrap captains 32-player Rugby World Cup squad featuring 19 tournament debutants". Sky Sports. 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
13. "Inspirational Cardiff Blues women stars on the front line of battle against Covid-19". www.cardiffrugby.wales. 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2022-10-11.
14. James, Ben (2020-04-08). "Four Wales Women rugby players join NHS frontline fight". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2021-06-10.

External links

• Official website