England’s World Cup-winning hooker Lark Atkin-Davies has announced she is pregnant with her first child, sharing the news in an Instagram video and a due date in June, per BBC Sport.
By The Beat Writer — CelebnMusic247
Seven weeks after lifting a World Cup on home soil, Lark Atkin-Davies shared the biggest news of her year off the field. The England and Bristol Bears hooker has announced she is pregnant with her first child, per BBC Sport — news she delivered herself, in a video posted to her Instagram, telling followers she is due in June.
A World Cup Winner’s Next Chapter
Atkin-Davies, 30, has won 74 caps for the Red Roses and played in all six matches of England’s World Cup run this September, scoring three tries as England won the tournament at home, per BBC Sport. She has not played for Bristol during this Premiership Women’s Rugby season — a fact that makes considerably more sense to supporters this morning.
Her club’s response was instant and warm. “Can’t wait to welcome a new bear cub,” the Bristol Bears said, per BBC Sport — the kind of reply that tells you how popular she is in that dressing room.
The Path Back Is Already Mapped
What makes this announcement different from a generation ago is that nobody has to guess what happens next. Per BBC Sport, England players are entitled to 26 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, plus funding for children to travel to matches, under the Rugby Football Union’s updated maternity policy from February 2023.
And there is a living example one locker away: her England and Bristol teammate Abbie Ward gave birth to a daughter in 2023 and returned to the sport just 17 weeks later, per BBC Sport. Atkin-Davies does not have to pioneer this road — she gets to walk one a teammate already paved, on a schedule the sport now formally supports.
Why This Story Travels
Women’s rugby is in the middle of the biggest growth window it has ever had, with the home World Cup win as its engine. Its stars announcing pregnancies openly, with contracts and policies that treat motherhood as a chapter rather than an ending, is part of how the sport keeps the players who built that window — and how young players watching learn that the two dreams are not in competition.
A June due date means a summer of first things off the field. The comeback, whenever it comes, now has a map, a policy and a precedent.
The 247 Take — World Cup in September, a baby due in June, and a sport that finally has the paperwork to support both: Atkin-Davies’ announcement is what progress in women’s rugby actually looks like up close. Congratulations to the whole Bears family — cub included.
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Sources: BBC Sport
