Emily Scarratt has officially retired from professional rugby at 35, concluding a 17-year international career that exemplified professionalism. The exemplary centre finishes with 119 England caps, 754 points as the nation’s all-time leading scorer, and two World Cup victories. Her professional approach to training, preparation, recovery, and conduct established standards for teammates and competitors alike.
From her 2008 debut—during the sport’s amateur era—Scarratt approached rugby professionally. As the game transitioned toward professionalism, her standards were already established. Her contribution to 11 Six Nations championships reflected professional preparation for each match. Her achievement of competing in five World Cups demonstrated professional longevity—maintaining elite fitness and performance across 17 years required exceptional professionalism.
The 2014 Rugby World Cup showcased professional excellence. She finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 70 points through professional preparation and execution. Her player of the final performance as England won the championship reflected professional standards. By 2019, when she received the World Rugby Player of the Year award, she had become a fully professional athlete in a professional sport.
Her professionalism extended to captaining Great Britain at the 2016 Rio Olympics and winning Commonwealth Games bronze with England sevens in 2018. At club level with Lichfield and Loughborough Lightning, she maintained professional standards even before the sport became fully professional.
As she transitions to coaching, Scarratt will instill professional standards in future players. She has accepted an assistant coaching position with Loughborough Lightning for the upcoming season and will also work with the RFU in a specialist coaching and mentoring role. In her retirement statement, Scarratt expressed pride in being part of women’s rugby’s transformation into a professional sport—a transformation she helped drive through her own professionalism—and gratitude for the opportunity to retire on her own terms. England head coach John Mitchell paid tribute to her as a once-in-a-generation player whose professionalism established benchmarks that define what it means to be a professional rugby player.