Nick Kennedy (born 19 August 1982) is a retired English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player and former Director of Rugby at

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. Whil ...

. He played

Lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

and Harlequins. His uncle Duncan Kennedy is a BBC news correspondent. Kennedy represented

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of em ...

at the

2006 Churchill Cup The 2006 Churchill Cup was a rugby union competition played between the second teams of various top tier international rugby nations and the first teams of traditionally less prominent teams, such as Canada and the United States. The 2006 tourna ...

and

2007 Churchill Cup The 2007 Churchill Cup was held from May 18 to June 2, 2007. It was the fifth year of the Churchill Cup. Six rugby union teams took part: Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, Ireland Wolfhounds, Ireland A, New Zealand Māori ru ...

. He was called into the

side that defeated Ireland A on 1 February 2008. Kennedy was selected for the 2008 summer tour of New Zealand. He was later picked for Martin Johnson's Elite Player Squad on 1 June 2008 ahead of

Ben Kay Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is a retired English international rugby union footballer who played Second row forward for Leicester Tigers and . Background Kay was born in Liverpool, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Si ...

. He started his first game against the

Pacific Islanders Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Oce ...

in which he scored a try. Kennedy participated in every game of the

2009 Six Nations The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

. In 2012 Kennedy was signed for

for the upcoming 2012/13 season In May 2013 he started as

won the

2013 Heineken Cup Final The 2013 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2012–13 Heineken Cup, the 18th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 18 May 2013 in the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, kicking off at 5 pm ( ...

by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne. Following his request to be released from Toulon, he returned to England to sign for Harlequins for 2013/14 season. After just one season at Harlequins, Kennedy announced his retirement from playing in May 2014 in order to pursue a coaching career after he was appointed academy director at former club London Irish. On 1 July 2016 he was announced as the new Director of Rugby in a new coaching setup following the departure of Tom Coventry. He left his role on 22 March, 2018 shortly after the appointment of

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year aw ...

as technical consultant and

Les Kiss Les Kiss (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian professional rugby union coach who is the head coach of London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played in the Brisbane Rugby League and ...

as head coach.

References

External links

London Irish profileEngland profileLondon Irish confirm Nick Kennedy exit for Toulon
1981 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players London Irish players Rugby union locks English people of Irish descent Alumni of the University of Portsmouth People educated at Claires Court School RC Toulonnais players Rugby union players from Southampton {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub