Emily Chancellor retires from Wallaroos after 11 years and 41 caps

Emily Chancellor will retire from international rugby after Saturday’s WXV Global Series match against Scotland, the 35-year-old Wallaroos flanker confirmed on Monday, drawing the curtain on an 11-year career spanning 41 caps, two Women’s Rugby World Cups, and seven Super Rugby Women’s titles.

Chancellor made the announcement to her teammates before speaking publicly, describing the moment as an emotional one. She noted she had played alongside 108 capped Wallaroos across her career — a figure that underlined just how central she had been to the programme’s growth.

“Not many people get an opportunity to make this decision themselves, so I’m really proud to be able to walk away on my terms,” Chancellor said. “You don’t want to be doing the jersey a disservice. So, it’s time to look elsewhere.”

The decision comes as the Wallaroos prepare to transition into a full-time professional programme at the end of the year. Chancellor, who has balanced her playing career with a job at a construction company, said the shift in direction was a key factor in her timing.

“I love the balanced life that I’ve been living with rugby and work, and I’m starting to get excited about what could be my future,” she said. “The pathway that the Wallaroos are going down — I think I know deep down in my heart it’s not where I want to go with my rugby.”

Chancellor came to the sport relatively late, picking it up aged 21 after years playing netball, having attended a Come Try Rugby Day. She made her Wallaroos debut in 2018 — the team’s 50th Test — against the Black Ferns at Accor Stadium in Sydney, and was named Wallaroos Player of the Year that season.

Over the course of her career she also captained Australia on four occasions, led the Barbarians earlier in 2025, and played club rugby in both England and Japan. She recovered from an ACL injury to appear at the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup, a tournament she had flagged as a personal milestone.

“I’ve said for the last couple of years that I had two more years left in me — before I did my ACL, and I got through that World Cup,” she said.

Chancellor added that the emotion in the room when she told her teammates was a fitting reflection of what the programme means to her. “It’s a special place. We’ve seen the growth, we’ve been part of some crazy experiences. The emotion is a good representation of how much this team means to me.”