BURTON Abi

General
FAMILY RIVALRIES
She believes that the competition between her and her younger brothers Joe and Oli, who have both played rugby league [13-a-side] for the England academy team, inspires all of them to fulfil their sporting potential. She also feels they have all benefited from the encouragement of their parents including her father Danny, who played professional rugby league [13-a-side] for Halifax in England. "Every year at Christmas when I come home we have a family race. Last year [2019], I beat my dad. It took me 19 years but I finally did it. He's 40-odd and still thinks he can beat us all over 50 metres so he wasn't happy. He kept saying there'd been a false start. Mum and dad have always wanted us to be active. They've never really pushed us to do one sport or another but naturally we all followed my dad's roots in wanting to play rugby. We were going to put up one of my England shirts on the wall. Joe and Oli have got their England youth shirts and my mum said, 'Should we put them up as well?'. But Joe said no. They didn't want their England youth shirts up against my actual England shirt. He said they'll put an actual England shirt up there when they get one. I won't put up my shirt until they both have theirs as well and I honestly do believe they will." (yorkshirepost.co.uk, 28 Mar 2020)

BODY POSITIVITY
She admits that playing rugby has alleviated the body confidence issues she suffered after receiving negative comments at school. She uses an Instagram account to share her insights and to promote body confidence. "It was the classic, 'You're a man, you're butch' that really got to me. Being a 16-year-old girl trying to figure myself out and being called a man really took a toll on my mental health. It was horribly difficult to get over that people wouldn't like me because I had muscular arms, but I am finally at a point in my life where I feel comfortable in my own skin. I am proud of every part of my body and I want to be able to encourage others that our body is made for a purpose and to embrace it. When I came into rugby I soon realised that no one looks at you for what your body looks like. The beauty of rugby is that everyone is different shapes and sizes and as long as they play rugby well, no one cares about that. Rugby helped me feel so much better mentally and dragged me out of a dark place. I don't know where I would be without it." (Instagram profile 2, 15 Feb 2021, 03 Oct 2019; newschainonline.com, 07 Nov 2019)

RETURN TO UNION
In September 2020, she joined English Premier 15s team Wasps to play rugby union [15-a-side] after the England sevens team's playing contracts were terminated. She had previously played rugby union [15-a-side] for Gloucester-Hartpury before earning a full-time central contract with England rugby sevens. (LinkedIn profile, 13 Apr 2021; englandrugby.com, 26 Feb 2021; womensrugbysouthwest.com, 01 Sep 2020; ultimaterugby.com, 01 Jan 2020)

OCCUPATION
She has worked as a coach for Reading RFC Girls. (LinkedIn profile, 13 Apr 2021)