World Cup Winners Packer and Galligan Expecting Baby
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- Rosie Galligan and Marlie Packer announced via a joint Instagram post that they are expecting a baby, with Galligan due to give birth in October 2026.
- Galligan, 27, becomes the fourth England women's player to announce a pregnancy this year, following Red Roses captain Zoe Stratford and Bristol duo Lark Atkin-Davies and Abbie Ward.
- Packer, 36, already has a five-year-old son named Oliver and previously lifted the Rugby World Cup with England in 2014, in addition to last year's Red Roses triumph on home soil.
- The engaged couple both play club rugby for Saracens and were members of the Red Roses squad that won the Women's Rugby World Cup in England in 2025.
- Galligan has 31 Test caps and featured in England's 2022 Six Nations Grand Slam, while Packer has 112 international appearances dating back to her 2008 debut.
Why it matters: Four England women's rugby internationals announcing pregnancies in a single year highlights a significant wave of player absences that the Red Roses squad and Saracens will need to manage heading into the next international cycle, with the 2025 World Cup winners seeing their ranks reshaped off the pitch as well as on it.
