England World Cup winner Abby Dow retires aged 28 to be an engineer

Abby Dow of England during a WXV1 clash against the Black Ferns in 2023. Photo / Photosport

Abby Dow, the England World Cup winner, has retired from rugby union to pursue a career in engineering.

Regarded as one of the most devastating wingers in the women’s game, Dow scored 50 tries in 59 Red Roses appearances and was part of the team who won this year’s showpiece at Twickenham Stadium.

Her decision to retire at the relatively young age of 28 will cause surprise given she had been a regular starter for England and her place had not been under threat.

John Mitchell, the England head coach, said the game was losing “arguably the best right winger in world rugby at the peak of her powers”. Dow had earned a reputation for her electric pace and clinical finishing and won seven Six Nations titles over the course of her eight-year Test career.

There was speculation that Dow’s retirement was on the cards when she left Ealing Trailfinders before the World Cup and did not sign with another Premiership Women’s Rugby club for the 2025-26 campaign.

In a statement released by the Rugby Football Union, Dow, an Imperial College London graduate, said she was leaving rugby to follow a career in engineering.

“I never realised when I picked up a rugby ball at the age of five that I was at the start of a 23-year sporting career,” Dow said. “Rugby has been central to my life and has shaped me into who I am today. However, I feel the pull of my other passion – engineering – so I have decided to hang up my boots and try my luck in a different world.

“The rugby family has given much more that I could ever give back. I would like to thank my coaches, family, friends, and most importantly, the fans. They have enabled me to participate in something truly wonderful. I feel very privileged and humble. Today, I leave rugby as a player and join as its number one fan. Thank you all.”

In June, Dow posted a statement on her social media channels saying that she was leaving Trailfinders because of a “difference in philosophy” after Giselle Mather, the club’s former director of rugby, abruptly left the club at the start of the 2024-25 season.

Dow enjoyed a close relationship with Mather, who oversaw her development as a young player at Wasps before the club went under in 2022 – the same year in which she suffered a horrific leg break against Wales in the Six Nations.

She made a remarkable recovery to make the England squad for the World Cup in New Zealand, which the Red Roses would go on to lose.

Away from rugby, Dow showed her creative side through her passion for crocheting, an activity which became so popular within England’s squad that she inspired a national yarn art campaign ahead of this year’s World Cup.