Promising Australian fly-half wants to 'make an impact' with Leicester

Western Force fly-half Grace Freeman will ply her trade with Leicester Tigers in the 2026/26 Premiership Women’s Rugby season.

The 25-year-old, who previously represented the Melbourne Rebels, returned to Super Rugby Women’s in June after a 450 day layoff with a significant foot injury sustained against the Fijian Drua in the 2024 campaign.

In November, the New Zealand-born playmaker was awarded a national contract by the Wallaroos. She has been the subject of “long-term” interest from Rugby Australia and is expected to make her Test rugby debut in the near future for the green and gold.

Freeman said: “I am super keen to get over to England and get amongst it. It’s going to be a really good opportunity to grow my game and challenge my abilities by playing with and against the best.

“Tigers seem like a really connected group that are growing with every season and I look forward to making an impact.”

Fraser Goatcher, Director of Women’s Rugby, said: “Grace is a dual-threat player, she’s a good running 10 but has also got a really intelligent boot on her, so she’s going to put us in the right places to play on the pitch.”

Leicester have also announced the recruitment of outside back Halley Derera ahead of next season too. The 28-year-old also joins from Western Force and previously had two years of PWR experience with Exeter Chiefs.

Derera said: “I’m really excited to join Tigers – I’ve been invigorated by the energy that I’ve seen in the programme. I’m thrilled to contribute to the strong culture that’s being built.

“I love watching the PWR and English rugby; I’m keen to get stuck in and have the opportunity to play week in week out.I’m super excited to link up with JMac [Jemima McCalman] after having played with her at Sydney University and the ACT Brumbies.”