Canada international Abby Duguid retires after 'best season ever' with Exeter Chiefs

Abby Duguid will retire from rugby at the end of the 2024-25 season, the 28-year-old Canada international and Exeter Chiefs lock confirmed, describing the decision as ‘bittersweet’ after what she called her best campaign in the sport.

Duguid was recruited by Exeter head coach Steve Salvin earlier this season as cover following serious injuries to Edel McMahon and Taz Bricknell. She has since made 10 Premiership Women’s Rugby appearances for the Devon club and scored one try — a final chapter that she says has rekindled her passion for the game.

“It’s been bittersweet because I came in feeling it would be my last year, but I have also had the best time,” Duguid said. “I feel like I have completion; I have finished on a high note. I have really fallen back in love with rugby. I have had the best season ever and I’m ready to be done. It feels like the right time.”

The lock, who is the older sister of France and Montpellier lock Tyler Duguid, made 55 appearances for Loughborough Lightning during her time in the Premiership Women’s Rugby competition before joining Exeter. She also coached Loughborough University’s women’s team during her spell in the East Midlands and has been running an after-school rugby club at Exeter’s The Maynard School since her move to the south-west.

Duguid said the relationships she has built at Exeter will be what she misses most. “The thing I will miss most will be the girls. I have made life-long friends even though I have only really been here for eight months; it feels like I have been here forever.”

On retirement she will return to Edmonton, Alberta, where she plans to resume a career in teaching and has ambitions of joining the fire service.

Duguid’s final matches in an Exeter shirt could yet include a Premiership Women’s Rugby semi-final. Chiefs have qualified for the last four and are scheduled to travel to Saracens’ StoneX Stadium for a winner-takes-all tie on Sunday 15 June — a significant step up from last season, when Exeter missed the top four by just two points.

“I would like to thank everyone,” Duguid added. “People at home and everyone else who has supported me. Thanks to everyone who believed in me even when I sometimes did not believe in myself.”