Photo credit: World Rugby
Former Hartpury College A-level student Ellie Kildunne has been named World Rugby’s Women’s 15s Player of the Year and is included in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of the Year along with five other England players.
The former Gloucester Hartpury RFC player claimed the coveted title for the first time after playing a key role in the Red Roses’ perfect 2024 campaign that saw them win all 10 matches played and secure the Women’s Six Nations and WXV 1 titles.
She beat Red Roses team-mate Alex Matthews to the award, as well as France’s Pauline Bourdon Sansus and Canada’s Alex Tessier.
Ellie’s prolific try scoring has helped her become one of the leading players for John Mitchell's Red Roses, who are on a 20-match winning run and are now favourites for next year's World Cup in England. Her skills also earned her selection to Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
In the last 12 months the Harlequins back has become one of England's most recognisable women's rugby players having also moved into photography, fashion design, and even launched her own podcast with fellow Red Rose Jess Breach.
The Red Roses have been victorious in 50 of their last 51 Test matches, having defended both Six Nations Grand Slam and WXV 1 titles. Six players with connections to Hartpury and the Red Roses were named in the World Rugby Women’s 15s Dream Team of the year also include:
- Ellie Kildunne
- Zoe Aldcroft - Hartpury alum (Level 3 sport diploma, before moving up to study the BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences degree) and Gloucester Hartpury player
- Maud Muir - Gloucester Hartpury player
- Alex Matthews – Hartpury College alum and Gloucester Hartpury player
- Holly Aitchison - Hartpury alum (Level 3 sport diploma)
- Maud Muir – Gloucester Hartpury player and Hartpury coach
Women’s rugby at Hartpury
Hartpury University and Hartpury College have strong track records of honing player skills while equipping them for a future beyond the rugby field. The Hartpury Women’s Rugby Academy has nurtured over 20 England Under-20s and 10 senior England squad members, with many players also securing coveted full-time contracts in both 7s and 15s rugby.
The women’s rugby pathway recently received a boost as Vodafone was named as Performance Innovation Partner of Gloucester Hartpury Rugby. The multi-year partnership will see the mobile provider feature on the training kit of Gloucester Hartpury, front-of-shirt of the Hartpury University team, and back-of-shirt for the Hartpury College team.
Vodafone will work with the teams to help the development of their talent pathway, by providing support for Hartpury University and Hartpury College players looking to step up from university rugby to the elite level.
Hartpury University ranks 4th in the UK for Sports Science according to the Guardian’s University Guide 2025.
