Catherine Spencer is a former England International Rugby player and captain who won 63 caps for her country. She played in two World Cup finals, eight 6 Nations championships, as well as a number of Nations Cup competitions and European Cup tournaments. Catherine won England player of the year in 2006 and picked up the Rugby Union Writers Club Award in 2010 recognising outstanding achievements within the sport both on and off the pitch; in 2011 she won the Linda Utley Award marking outstanding contribution to sport away from the pitch.

In April 2014, Catherine left full-time employment with the RFU to set up and establish her own company called Inspiring Women. Inspiring Women is a specialist agency providing female keynote, motivational and after-dinner speakers.

Catherine is a regular in sports media having worked for a number of outlets including Sky Sports and the BBC; In 2017 she commentated on the Women’s Rugby World Cup with ITV which attracted record breaking viewer figures. Catherine has written published articles for the Independent on Sunday, the Sunday Times and The Guardian and writes her own regular column for the popular weekly Rugby Paper.

Catherine is also Patron of Tag Rugby Trust; a charity that she has been involved with since 2007 which works across a number of developing countries with the aim to “Build futures through rugby”. She feels passionately about helping to develop communities around the world using rugby as a tool.

In September 2018 Catherine received the award of an Honorary Doctorate by Canterbury Christchurch University is recognition of a lifetime of dedication to her own sporting career and more recently her passion to help others.

Her memoir “Mud, Maul, Mascara” was published in February 2020 and the book has received a number of glowing reviews.

We are delighted to welcome Catherine to Queen’s to celebrate International Women’s Day.