Abby Dow, the England World Cup winner, has retired from rugby union to pursue a career in engineering.
Regarded as one of the most devastating wingers in the women’s game, Dow scored 50 tries in 59 Red Roses appearances and was part of the team who won this year’s showpiece at Twickenham Stadium.
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Her decision to retire at the relatively young age of 28 will cause surprise given she had been a regular starter for England and her place had not been under threat.
John Mitchell, the England head coach, said the game was losing “arguably the best right winger in world rugby at the peak of her powers”. Dow had earned a reputation for her electric pace and clinical finishing and won seven Six Nations titles over the course of her eight-year Test career.
There was speculation that Dow’s retirement was on the cards when she left Ealing Trailfinders before the World Cup and did not sign with another Premiership Women’s Rugby club for the 2025-26 campaign.
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In a statement released by the Rugby Football Union, Dow, an Imperial College London graduate, said she was leaving rugby to follow a career in engineering.
“I never realised when I picked up a rugby ball at the age of five that I was at the start of a 23-year sporting career,” Dow said. “Rugby has been central to my life and has shaped me into who I am today. However, I feel the pull of my other passion –engineering – so I have decided to hang up my boots and try my luck in a different world.
“The rugby family has given much more that I could ever give back. I would like to thank my coaches, family, friends, and most importantly, the fans. They have enabled me to participate in something truly wonderful. I feel very privileged and humble. Today, I leave rugby as a player and join as its number one fan. Thank you all.”
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In June, Dow posted a statement on her social media channels saying that she was leaving Trailfinders because of a “difference in philosophy” after Giselle Mather, the club’s former director of rugby, abruptly left the club at the start of the 2024-25 season.
Dow enjoyed a close relationship with Mather, who oversaw her development as a young player at Wasps before the club went under in 2022 – the same year in which she suffered a horrific leg break against Wales in the Six Nations.
She made a remarkable recovery to make the England squad for the World Cup in New Zealand, which the Red Roses would go on to lose.
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Away from rugby, Dow showed her creative side through her passion for crocheting, an activity which became so popular within England’s squad that she inspired a national yarn art campaign ahead of this year’s World Cup.
Shock decision leaves a void – here is who can fill it
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It is rare for a player of such quality to bring the curtain down on their career when they are in their prime, but Abby Dow is clearly at peace with her decision. When you have won numerous Six Nations championships and a home World Cup, now feels the right time to pivot in a different direction.
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Rugby careers are short, but the fact Dow has chosen to end hers prematurely to pursue a completely new vocation is unsurprising given women’s players are hardly well paid. There would have been the carrot of a first women’s Lions tour in 2027, but the pull of engineering was too great. Dow and her intrepid pace will be missed, but she will surely fly in this new chapter.
There might have been an uptick in sponsorship opportunities following the World Cup, but the stark reality is that women’s contracts are still peanuts compared to what their male counterparts are paid. Dow is an intelligent individual who has always spoken eloquently in press conferences, despite being known to hate doing media, and knows this.
Off the pitch, Dow earned a growing legion of fans with her own crocheting creations. From scrunchies, mini opposition shirts and single roses for personal milestones, she even crocheted a special gift for The Princess of Wales on her recent visit to the Red Roses changing room during the World Cup.
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You have to wonder, though, whether the monotony of being part of a serial winning team might have contributed to her decision. Could this be the start of a trend if the Red Roses continue beating everyone else and winning everything?
Thankfully for England, Dow’s successors are already waiting in the wings. Millie David, the bright young Bristol winger who has already been involved in senior England camps after excelling at under-20 level, looks an obvious replacement.
Mia Venner, the Gloucester-Hartpury flyer who narrowly missed out on John Mitchell’s World Cup squad, is another candidate, while Bristol’s Reneeqa Bonner, another England under-20 graduate, would be another contender. They will have big shoes to fill.
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