Red Roses' Kildunne shortlisted for Sports Personality of the Year

Women’s Rugby World Cup winner Ellie Kildunne has been shortlisted for the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year award.

The Red Roses full-back is the first ever female rugby player to be nominated for the 71-year-old accolade currently held by Team GB middle distance runner Keely Hodgkinson.

Kildunne is the first English rugby player to be nominated since Jonny Wilkinson and Jason Robinson since 2007. Wilkinson is the sole rugby union athlete to have won Sports Personality of the Year after he helped England win the Rugby World Cup in 2003.

Across the home Women’s Rugby World Cup the 26-year-old captured the hearts of thousands on and off the pitch.

Her lasso dance inspired Red Roses supporters to don cowgirl hats in the stands and was one of four women’s players to be immortalised as a one-of-a-kind Barbie doll in a bid to inspire girls into sport.

On the field Kildunne was similarly influential. She came into 2025 as the reigning World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year and doubled down on that success with a hat-trick of tries on her 50th Test cap against Wales and helped the Red Roses to wrap up a seventh Guinness Women’s Six Nations title in a row.

She was also an integral figure in England’s Women’s Rugby World Cup success on home soil. This included a brace of tries in the tournament opener against the USA Women’s Eagles in Sunderland, a score against France in the semi-final and a mesmeric score against Canada in the final in front of a world record crowd of 81,885 at Allianz Stadium in late September.

“It’s a great privilege to be shortlisted for BBC Sports Personality of the Year,” Kildunne said.

“Whenever you step out on to the field as a Red Rose, you understand the personal responsibility that comes with representing your country and what it takes to achieve something together.

“Winning the World Cup with your best mates is a feeling I can’t really describe. There are so many good people around me that have helped guide me on my journey over the past year and I am truly grateful to every single one of them.

“The support from the fans has been incredible. The cowboy hats in the crowd, the amazing messages on social media, the handwritten letters, people turning out in their thousands to watch us: it’s why I love this sport.

“There is now an expectation for us to keep going and keep striving for greater things. It makes me excited for my personal journey ahead but also what’s to come for the Red Roses and women’s rugby.”

Kildunne has been nominates alongside European Championship winning Lionesses Hannah Hampton and Chloe Kelly, darts ace Luke Littler, Masters winner Rory McIlroy and Formula 1 winner Lando Norris. The 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards will take place on Thursday 18 December from 7pm to 9pm.