Gemma Rowland

Gemma Rowland (born 7 February 1989) is a Welsh Rugby Union player who plays centre for the Wales women's national rugby union team, Bristol Bears and the British Army Rugby Union. She made her debut for the Wales national squad in 2015, and represented them at the 2021 Women's Six Nations Championship.

Club career Rowland's interest in rugby began when she attended Colston's School in Bristol. At the time, the school's sports curriculum for female students included only hockey, netball, tennis and rounders. This changed when Laura Keates, now an ex-England international rugby player, joined the school, and she and Rowland began a campaign to start an after-school girls' rugby club. The team then went on to win the Rosslyn Park National Schools sevens two years in a row.

Rowland continued to play rugby while studying at the University of Exeter. It was here that she was offered a sports scholarship under the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).

On joining the Army in 2011, Rowland was selected into the British Army rugby squad, and subsequently the United Kingdom Armed Forces team. In 2021, she moved to her current team, Bristol Bears.

International career Rowland made her international debut at the 2015 Women's Six Nations Championship, when Wales defeated world champions England in a memorable 13-0 victory at Swansea.