Abi Burton describes herself as a doer: “I like to get things done”. It is a quality clear in a career of remarkable achievement amid significant adversity. The Trailfinders and England back row will not turn 26 until the start of March but has already been to two Olympics and won a Rugby World Cup, battling back after spending 25 days in a coma with auto-immune encephalitis, having to learn to walk and talk again and experiencing redundancy twice.
There is little, then, that Burton has not experienced since making her senior bow as a 17-year-old, which makes her an apt individual to take on a role of real importance. For the first time, female players in England can now rely on the support of a bespoke women’s rugby board formed by the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), with Burton the first chair of a nine-strong group containing a representative of each Professional Women’s Rugby (PWR) club.
