Rugby World Cup winner Lark Atkin-Davies has announced she is pregnant with her first child.
The Bristol Bears hooker has not played for her club during this Premiership Women’s Rugby season.
Atkin-Davies has 74 caps for the Red Roses and played in all six matches, scoring three tries, as England won the World Cup on home soil in September.
In a video posted on her Instagram, the 30-year-old said she was due in June.
Bristol Bears said they “can’t wait to welcome a new bear cub”.
Atkin-Davies made her England debut in 2015.
Her England and Bristol team-mate Abbie Ward gave birth to a daughter in 2023, returning to the sport just 17 weeks later.
England players are entitled to 26 weeks’ fully-paid maternity leave, as well as funds for children to travel to games with them, after the Rugby Football Union updated its maternity policy in February 2023.
