England legend and two-time Women’s Six Nations Grand Slam-winner Heather Fisher has announced her retirement from rugby.
The 37-year-old won 27 caps for the England, helping the Red Roses to two clean sweeps in 2010 and 2011 and was a part of the 2014 World Cup-winning squad.
Fisher also won 81 England Sevens caps and represented Team GB at Rio 2016 as the sport made its debut at the Olympic Games.
“It’s been a rollercoaster of a career. I’m proud of everything I’ve been through, managed to overcome and achieved,” said Fisher, who has previously opened up about her alopecia and took a break from the game in 2018 to “mentally recharge”.
“I’ve had some amazing people alongside me and around me and am eternally grateful for the support I’ve had and would like to say a big thank you to all for believing in me and giving me the opportunities.
“Rugby’s been a great platform to be able to inspire people and change lives. I hope that I will now move on to other things in life and am looking forward to more opportunities to continue to inspire.”
Fisher made her Red Roses debut in 2009, playing at openside flanker in a 36-7 win over the USA, after several impressive performances in the shorter form of the game had earned her a call-up.
Her last international XVs cap came in a 15-14 win over Canada in July 2015, while she last featured on the sevens circuit in February 2020.
Fisher, who competed in three Sevens World Cups and won Commonwealth Games bronze in 2018 with England, had hoped to compete at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
She was named in the GB Sevens squad in February 2021 but was forced to pull out due to injury.
Domestically in XVs, she represented Wasps FC Ladies, Gloucester-Hartpury Women and featured in the Allianz Premier 15s for Worcester Warriors in the past year.
Her coach while playing with the Red Roses, Gary Street, added: “I worked with Heather over a 14-year period. She’s the archetype of what you see is what you get. There’s no hiding who she is.
“She was one of the funniest players to be around where you’d be wondering whether she’s going to jump out of a wardrobe while away on tour.”
On the pitch, Street described back row forward Fisher as a “force of nature” after her performance in a convincing win over New Zealand in 2012 and said that alongside Maggie Alphonsi her physicality helped change women’s rugby in England.
