The soprano in the scrum! Student singing the national anthem at Twickenham who is equally at home in an opera house and a muddy field

She is the soprano in the thigh-slit dress who will be singing in front of 82,000 rugby fans before England play France today.



And you would be forgiven for thinking that following her performance at Twickenham, Laura Wright would have had enough rugby for the weekend.



But tomorrow she will swap her high heels and ball gown for boots, shorts and a gumshield when she steps on to a muddy pitch in front of only a handful of people.



The two sides of Laura Wright, in a singing gown and in her Rosslyn Park Ladies rugby kit

In the ruck: Opera singer Laura Wright getting stuck in for Rosslyn Park Ladies rugby team

For the 22-year-old is not only the England team’s official anthem singer, but she also plays full-back for Rosslyn Park Ladies - the aptly named ‘Slingbacks’ - in south-west London.



‘Rugby is in my blood as I started playing at school and have three older brothers who also play,’ she said.



‘I love sport and took up rugby properly last year as I really enjoy being part of a team. I’m not the kind of person to live life carefully. It is full-on contact rugby I play.



‘It’s a different feeling stepping out on to a pitch in a glamorous dress and heels compared to boots and gumshield.

‘From playing rugby, I definitely found even more respect for professional sportsmen and how focused dedicate you must be.



‘I always get nervous before playing matches – just as I always get nervous before signing no matter how small the performance is.’



Miss Wright trains twice a week for Rosslyn Park, and coach Liz Delves said that in her first season she had impressed her team-mates. The team are due to play an away game against Beckenham, in south-east London, tomorrow.



‘She’s got speed and good technical awareness,’ said Miss Delves. ‘We generally get between 50 and 60 people watching our matches, so it’s not quite Twickenham, but the passion is there just the same.’



Miss Wright, who has also sung in front of the Queen, says that she had to make a decision whether to embark on a career singing or following her sporting ambitions.



While attending the 16,000-a-year Framlingham College near Woodbridge, Suffolk, where she had a scholarship, she captained the school’s hockey, netball and tennis teams. She also went on to represent the East of England at hockey and competed in the national athletics school championships by throwing the javelin.



England meet France later today in a Six Nations clash at Twickenham

Miss Wright is currently in her final year studying Opera at the Royal College of Music after winning a scholarship. Since then she has sold more than 2.5million copies of her debut album, The Last Rose, and released a second, Glorious.



She was appointed England’s first official anthem singer last year after performing at Twickenham and at Wembley for football’s Champion League and FA Cup finals. After England play France in the Six Nations today, she is also due to repeat the anthems for the women’s teams who are playing in the same ground shortly afterwards.



Miss Wright, who is single, said she had met most of the England players and had taken advice from them.



‘I met Alex Goode who plays full-back as well and gave me some tips on where to position myself. All of the guys are great and very friendly.



Her previous relationship with War Horse and Great Expectations actor Jeremy Irvine fizzled out by their busy work schedules. The pair grew up close to each other in Suffolk and remain close friends.

