The Rugby World Cup winner Abby Dow has announced her shock retirement from professional rugby, with the Red Roses head coach, John Mitchell, bemoaning the fact that England have lost “the best right winger in world rugby at the peak of her powers”.
Dow has made the surprise move to focus on her engineering career. The England player’s last game came in the World Cup final in September when the Red Roses defeated Canada 33-13 in front of a world‑record crowd of 81,885 at Twickenham. Alongside the World Cup in her 59‑cap international career, the 28-year-old Dow won seven Six Nations titles and two WXV 1 trophies.
