When it comes to top talents in women’s rugby, few have risen as rapidly as 25-year-old Alex Callender. Harlequins’ dynamic back rower from Carmarthenshire earned her first international cap for Wales in 2019, just two years after starting to play, and was named the country’s vice-captain during the 2025 Six Nations.
Known for fierce leadership and power on the pitch, Alex is about to drive Wales into the 2025 Women’s World Cup, kicking off their first match against Scotland on Saturday.
‘When I come into rugby, I want to do it 100%,’ she said on the Say It How It Is podcast in 2023. ‘Since [my first contact session], I’ve never looked back,’ she continued on the first episode of the Welsh Rugby Union and Vodafone’s series Daffodils. ‘I just want to get better and better, and not take things for granted.’
What to Read Next1. She initially played netball
She competed at county level and represented Wales at under-21 level.
Alex Callender//Instagram
2. She first played rugby seriously when she was 17
Her first foray into rugby took place in 2017 after a few girls from school told her to come to a training session at her local club, Llanelli Warriors.
‘It involved a contact session and I absolutely loved it,’ she said to Rugby World. After playing both rugby and netball for a while, she dropped the latter. ‘It was difficult to do the training for both, so I decided to carry on with rugby. I like the physicality.’
3. She’s previously played for the Scarlets, Worcester Warriors and Brython Thunder
Before Harlequins, Alex was part of a number of teams. After qualifying for the Scarlets under-18 side, she then went on to play for the senior Scarlets Ladies team in the Welsh Rugby Union Women’s Regional Championship, and captained them in 2019.
In December 2018, she left the Scarlets to join Rugby Premier 15s (Premiership Women’s Rugby as of 2023) side Worcester Warriors Women (previously Worcester Valkyries), staying with the club until it closed in October 2023.
She then joined up with the newly formed Brython Thunder to play in the 2024 Celtic Challenge tournament, before signing with Harlequins at the end of the 2024 season.
Chloe Davis//Getty Images
4. She’s played several positions throughout her career
Alex was put at centre to start with, then number 8, at the back of the scrum. Now openside flanker is her favourite and most common position, she said to Rugby World: ‘I like jackling, chop tackling, running support lines.’
Initially, she was told she was too small to be a flanker. ‘I was a 65kg scrawny little flanker up against 90kg French forwards on my debut,’ she revealed to Rugby Pass. But her knack for risk-taking and technical ability meant she kept her place and was named in Rowland Phillips’ autumn squad in 2019.
Her commendable versatility renders her ‘equally effective as a dominant tackler as she is snaffling turnovers [when possession of the ball transfers from one team to another],’ adds Rugby Pass.
Related Stories 5. She shone during previous Six Nations and World Cup tournaments
She continued to impress on an international stage. By July 2022, she’d made 18 appearances for Wales as an amateur player, and she was named in the line-up for the delayed 2021 Rugby World Cup, where she played in all four matches – though Wales were knocked out in the semi-finals. Welsh Rugby Union then renewed her contract for 2023.
She continued to showcase her skills in the 2022 and 2023 Six Nations, playing every game at both tournaments. She also played every minute for Wales in the 2024 Six Nations, dominating as the tournament’s top tackler (74) and ball carrier. Currently, she has 45 caps.
Welsh Rugby Union//Instagram
6. She was named Welsh Rugby Writers’ Player of the Year 2024
Known for her relentless drive, the back rower received the award after a standout year with Wales, beating tough competitors like international teammate and three-time Olympian Jasmine Joyce.
7. Her mum was her biggest inspiration
Tragically, Alex lost her mum Donna to a long battle with cancer in 2023. On Daffodils, Alex reflected on the unwavering encouragement her mum offered her and that she still called upon to this day.
‘Obviously, I’ve got a reason behind why I want to be the best player and version of myself. My mam was my number one supporter. She is why I do it.
‘It’s so hard to speak about her. She was just a fighter and that’s the reason why I keep turning up every day, get out of bed, get out the house. I can have down days, but I know in the back of my mind, my mam is like, “Come on Al, you’ve bloody got this.”‘
Alex Callender//Instagram
8. She now loves the gym
On the Say It How It Is podcast, she confessed that she was a gym convert as of 2023: ‘I’m a different person. I love the gym.’ Hosts Ffion and Gwen noted how they had found her ‘Romanian deadlifting 80kg while everyone else was doing 50 or 60kg’.
‘I used to think, “So what if I can squat or bench this? I can still play around the pitch,”‘ Alex remarked. ‘But since I’ve gotten stronger, my carries are a lot more effective. I’m getting stronger hits…on dominant tackles. I’ve got [lifting shoes], purple straps and a lifting belt.’
Related Stories
