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2025 has been the year of Ellie Kildunne. The 26-year-old England international powered the Red Roses to Women’s Rugby World Cup glory and was this year’s BBC Sports Personality of the Year runner-up.
With a star power that has now extended beyond the confines of the rugby sphere, what the full-back could achieve in 2026 is limitless. But she is not the only Kildunne hoping to hit new highs in the next calendar year.
Sam Kildunne is four years his sister’s junior and plays for Ampthill in Champ Rugby.
Already the 22-year-old is an England Sevens international, having made his debut in Rugby Europe competition and followed in the footsteps of his sister in 2022, and harbours ambitions of representing Great Britain Sevens in HSBC SVNS competitions.
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Upon her brother’s maiden England Sevens call-up Ellie posted on X: “Proud big sister moment… “Can’t wait to see my not so little brother in an England shirt this weekend- always known you’d shine, it’s now your time.”
The duo clearly have a close bond. Over the years the pair have regularly stood on the sidelines to watch one another play and attended the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards in Salford together.
On the field there are plenty of similarities. The duo’s hitch-kicks when played side by side are almost identical, as is the way they look for space
In an interview with The Telegraph, Sam even spoke about how he trained with his sister during the Covid lockdowns and stood in as arch-rivals as a form of solo-training motivation.
“Over Covid, when Ellie was first in the England set-up, she had to be back at home and training on her own,” Kildunne told The Telegraph. “I remember training with her and it came to fitness at the end, which can be hard to motivate yourself for when you’re on your own, so I’d join her. I’d pretend to be Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and say I’d just intercepted the ball in the World Cup final and she had to catch me.”
The pair even trained alongside one another in 2024 ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. On Ellie’s podcast, Rugby Rodeo, the pair described that experience as “weird” as they house-shared while in camp.
While at Loughborough University, Sam was a mainstay of his team’s National 2 side and contributed to their BUCS Super Rugby success in 2024. He earned his Ampthill contract after he impressed the club’s Director of Rugby, Dave Ward, at London Floodlit 7s.
On his debut for the Bedfordshire club he scored a try in the club’s 45-24 win over Cambridge.
He doubled down on that bright start to the season at Safari Sevens in Kenya, where he starred for Team UK and finished the competition as top try scorer with nine efforts.
In his appearance on Rugby Rodeo, Sam explained how the opportunity to represent Great Britain in Dubai and Cape Town “didn’t work out” but how the “dream” to play HSBC SVNS is more alive than ever.
Having grown up watching the exploits of his sister across the globe and represent her country at the Olympic Games, the same year she became the 2024 World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year, it is not hard to see why Sam wants a shot at the world stage. And he has all the talent to do just that.
So keep an eye out for a familiar, yet still new, name on a Great Britain team sheet.
