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Tom Croft
Tom Croft (born 7 November 1985) is a retired rugby union player. He played 173 games for Leicester Tigers between 2005–17 winning four Premiership Rugby titles, played 40 times for between 2008–2015, was part of the squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and the British & Irish Lions in 2009 to South Africa and 2013 to Australia. His career was somewhat plagued with a variety of minor and serious injuries. Background Born 7 November 1985 in Basingstoke, England, Croft initially went to Park House School, a comprehensive school in Newbury, Berkshire, before going to Oakham School in Rutland where he was in the same year as England cricketer Stuart Broad. Playing style Croft's best position was blindside flanker. He was known for his line-out agility and unusual speed for a forward; one of the quickest players in the Tigers squad his coach Aaron Mauger described him as the " fastest loose forward he had ever seen". After scoring two tries against his Harle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southampton, south-west of London, 27 miles (43 km) west of Guildford, south of Reading and north-east of the county town and former capital Winchester. According to the 2016 population estimate, the town had a population of 113,776. It is part of the borough of Basingstoke and Deane and part of the parliamentary constituency of Basingstoke. Basingstoke is an old market town expanded in the mid-1960s, as a result of an agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. It was developed rapidly after the Second World War, along with various other towns in the United Kingdom, in order to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan in 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
England Cricket Team
The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. England, as a founding nation, is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One Day International (ODI) and Twenty20 International (T20I) status. Until the 1990s, Scottish and Irish players also played for England as those countries were not yet ICC members in their own right. England and Australia were the first teams to play a Test match (15–19 March 1877), and along with South Africa, these nations formed the Imperial Cricket Conference (the predecessor to today's International Cricket Council) on 15 June 1909. England and Australia also played the first ODI on 5 January 1971. England's first T20I was played on 13 June 2005, once more against Australia. , England have played 1,058 Test matches, winning 387 an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Easter
Nicholas James Easter (born 15 August 1978) is an English rugby union coach and former player. He played as a Number 8 for Orrell, Harlequins and the England national team. He began his career in 2001, playing for Orrell, before moving to Harlequins three years later. He began playing for the England national team in 2007, playing in the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups, as well as the annual Six Nations Championships. Aged 38, he retired in 2016. Early life Easter is the brother of Sale Sharks player Mark Easter and the nephew of author Anne Easter Smith. His father, John, played squash professionally and reached No. 1 in Britain and No. 9 in the world. His great grandfather, Pieter Le Roux, played for the Springboks. He attended the South London public school Dulwich College and Nottingham Trent University. Club career After a period working in London, Easter moved to Rosslyn Park F.C. before moving onto Orrell. In 2004, Easter signed for Harlequins. Easter h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis Deacon
Louis Deacon (born 7 October 1980, in Leicester) is a former English professional rugby union footballer. He played lock. Career His playing career started as an eight-year-old, playing with Wigston, before joining Syston RFC and as a Ratcliffe College student represented the Midlands county and both the England 16 Group and U18 Group School sides. He joined the Leicester Tigers Academy in the 1997–98 season and worked his way through the Tigers Youth, U21 and Extras teams. Deacon joined Leicester Tigers in 2000. He made his first team debut in August 2000 as a replacement against Cardiff and has established himself as a highly dependable player and equally at home at the front or middle of the line out. In the absence of club captain Geordan Murphy through injury, he has captained for spells in the 2009–10 season. Deacon was part of the Leicester squads that won the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Premiership finals. He was called up to the England A squad in the 2002–03 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jordan Crane (rugby Player)
Jordan Stephen Crane (born 3 June 1986 in Bromsgrove) is a former professional rugby union player, who recently played for Bristol Bears in the Premiership Rugby. Crane has also played internationally for England. Crane is renowned for his impressive physique and powerful runs from the base of the scrum. He consistently ranks as one of the most frequent carriers of the ball in English club rugby. He switched to playing rugby union relatively late after playing football for a number of professional clubs' junior sides. Club career Crane made his debut for his former club, Leeds Tykes, in the nine-all draw at FC Grenoble in the European Challenge Cup in October 2004 aged just 18. He went on to make 29 appearances for the Tykes in all competitions scoring five tries, including a hat trick against Valladolid RAC in the European Challenge Cup. After Leeds were relegated in the 2005–06 season, Crane left the club to sign for the Leicester Tigers. In the Heineken Cup se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cardiff Blues
Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park and are the professional arm of Cardiff Rugby Ltd. From 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before reverting to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021-22 season. They won European Challenge Cup titles in 2010 and 2018, beating Toulon Rugby and Gloucester Rugby respectively. They most recently made the knockout stages of the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2012. Between 2005 and 2018, they also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and won the 2009 title, beating Gloucester at Twickenham. History Origins The first reliably recorded Rugby club in Cardiff were Tredegarville, who began playing around 1870. By 1874 a team named Glamorgan FC had been formed and in 1876 they merged with Cardiff Wandere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Martin Corry (rugby Union)
Martin Edward Corry MBE (born 12 October 1973) is a retired English rugby union player who represented and captained and Leicester Tigers in a career spanning 14 seasons. Corry played 64 times for between 1997 and 2007, played 7 tests for the British & Irish Lions on tours in 2001 & 2005, and played 290 times for Leicester between 1997 and 2009. Earlier in his career he played top division rugby for Newcastle Gosforth and Bristol. A versatile player his principal positions were number eight and blindside flanker, he also played lock more as his career progressed. Corry started the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final, and was an unused substitute as England won the 2003 Rugby World Cup Final. He was a Premiership Rugby champion six times (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007 & 2009) and European Champion twice in 2001 and 2002. Early life Born in Birmingham, Corry was educated at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School, and first played rugby union for Tunbridge Wells minis. Career University, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dean Richards (rugby Player)
Dean Richards (born 11 July 1963) is a rugby union coach and former player for Leicester Tigers, and British & Irish Lions. He was most recently the Director of Rugby at Newcastle Falcons, a position he held for ten years between 2012 and 2022. Richards was a number eight and played 314 games for Leicester Tigers between 1982 and 1997, he was captain as Leicester won the 1994-95 Courage League and the 1997 Pilkington Cup, and also played as Leicester won the inaugural English league title in 1987-88 and the 1993 Pilkington Cup. He played 48 times for between 1986 and 1996, a world record number of caps for his position at the time, including the 1987, 1991 and 1995 Rugby World Cups, and represented the British Lions on their 1989 tour to Australia and 1993 tour to New Zealand playing in six international matches. He was widely regarded as one of the best number eights to have played the game. In 1998 he retired from playing and was immediately appointed Leicester Dir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harlequin F
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditionally believed to have been introduced by Zan Ganassa in the late 16th century, was definitively popularized by the Italian actor Tristano Martinelli in Paris in 1584–1585, and became a stock character after Martinelli's death in 1630. The Harlequin is characterized by his checkered costume. His role is that of a light-hearted, nimble, and astute servant, often acting to thwart the plans of his master, and pursuing his own love interest, Columbina, with wit and resourcefulness, often competing with the sterner and melancholic Pierrot. He later develops into a prototype of the romantic hero. Harlequin inherits his physical agility and his trickster qualities, as well as his name, from a mischievous "devil" character in medieval passio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
