William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former

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 who played for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. He played in the centre, mainly as an inside centre. He is the son of

Dick Greenwood John Richard Heaton Greenwood, (born 11 September 1940) is an English former rugby union player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo, Cambridge University, Lancashire and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England. Biograph ...

, who was a former

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 ...

coach.

Early life

Born 20 October 1972 in

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, Lancashire, Greenwood was educated at St Mary's Hall and

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. ...

. As a schoolboy, he was also a talented cricketer and played for the Lancashire Schools representative team before ultimately deciding to concentrate on rugby. He graduated with a BA in Economics from

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills ( Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_cha ...

in 1994. He then worked as a trader at a bank in London.

Career

Club

Greenwood played club rugby for

Preston Grasshoppers Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire. The men's senior team play in the RFU National League 2 North, a level 4 league in the RFU league pyramid. History The club was founded on 28 Se ...

, Waterloo, Harlequins and

. He left Harlequins and moved to

in 1996 because the presence of England centre

Will Carling William David Charles Carling (born 12 December 1965) is an English former rugby union player. He was England's youngest captain, aged 22, and won 72 caps from 1988 to 1996, captaining England 59 times. Under his captaincy, England won Five ...

meant he could not get first team rugby. In 2000 he moved back to Harlequins after succumbing to poor form, not helped by the arrival of Australian Pat Howard that prevented him from getting first team rugby. His match-winning try to defeat

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a commune of France. It is a sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze department. It has around 46,000 inhabitants, while the population of the agglomeration was ...

, in the European Shield quarterfinal on 27 January 2001, was voted the club's 2000/01 'Try of the Year'. He had already picked up an RFU Cup winner's medal with Leicester but tasted defeat in the final of the same competition with NEC Harlequins, at the hands of

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

in 2001. Greenwood extended his contract with Harlequins when they were relegated to the

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

. He retired at the end of the 2005/06 season after helping them regain promotion.

International

He was selected for the

' tour to South Africa still uncapped, and ahead of then England captain

Phil de Glanville Philip Ranulph de Glanville (born 1 October 1968 in Loughborough) is a former English rugby union player who played at centre for Bath and England. Rugby career de Glanville played for Durham University while an Economics and Politics stude ...

, in the summer of 1997. During the tour, he was injured on the pitch after a collision and stopped breathing for several minutes, and did not play in any of the test matches. He made his England debut in 1997. He became an important part of the England team, establishing a centre partnership with

Jeremy Guscott Jeremy Clayton Guscott (born 7 July 1965) is a British former rugby union outside centre who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. He also appeared for England on the wing. Guscott was born in Bath, Somerset, one of the tw ...

. He later cemented his place in the England team for the Six Nations and

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

in 2003. He formed a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

partnership with Mike Tindall or

Mike Catt Michael John Catt OBE (born 17 September 1971) is a South African-born former rugby union player who played for the England national rugby union team. He played professionally for the clubs London Irish and Bath. He earned 75 international caps ...

and wore the number 13 even if he played inside centre. He was involved in all but one of England's games in the World Cup. Although he had rushed home due to his wife's difficult pregnancy, he returned to the side, scoring England's only try against South Africa, when he followed up to touch down after a

Lewis Moody Lewis Walton Moody MBE (born 12 June 1978 in Ascot) is an English retired rugby union player. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side. Moody is known for the enthusiasm with which he pla ...

charge down. His try against Wales in the quarter-final in Brisbane turned the match for England in a tight game. He finished the tournament as joint top try scorer with five. He was made vice captain under

Lawrence Dallaglio Lorenzo Bruno Nero Dallaglio (born 10 August 1972), known as Lawrence Dallaglio, is an English retired rugby union player, former captain of England, and 2016 inductee of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. He played as a flanker or number eight ...

for the 2004 Six Nations tournament. He reached the 50 cap landmark against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and played in all of England's Six Nations matches. He won the last of 55 England caps against Australia in 2004. In 2005 Greenwood was injured for the Six Nations, but was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, his third Lions tour. He replaced

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...

just two minutes into the first test against New Zealand and also played in the third test. After 55 England caps and 31 tries he announced his retirement at the end of the 2005/6 season

International Tries

Post Retirement

Greenwood worked as an analyst for Sky Sports and regularly appears on 'The Rugby Club' and live premiership matches, as well as being (with

Scott Quinnell Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former dual-code rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond and the British & Irish Lions in rugb ...

) the co-presenter of the

School of Hard Knocks The School of Hard Knocks (also referred to as the University of Life or University of Hard Knocks) is an idiomatic phrase meaning the (sometimes painful) education one gets from life's usually negative experiences, often contrasted with formal ...

Sky TV series. During the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

, Greenwood was employed by ITV as an analyst for live matches. He also writes a column on the ''

Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

'' discussing the England rugby team. He is a co-founder of a travel and events business, SuperSkills Experiences In 2019, he was on the first panel to determine the

World Rugby World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...

women's-15s player-of-the-year award with

Melodie Robinson Melodie Robinson (born 25 May 1973) is a New Zealand sports journalist and presenter, and former international rugby union player for the New Zealand women's national rugby union team. She played 18 tests for the New Zealand women's team, the Bla ...

Danielle Waterman Danielle "Nolli" Waterman (born 20 January 1985) is a retired professional English rugby union, rugby sevens player and current rugby commentator. As a member of England's national rugby union team, she became a multiple Six Nations Championshi ...

Liza Burgess Liza 'Bird' Burgess (born 24 March 1964) is a former Welsh women's rugby union player who was a member of the 2018 World Rugby Hall of Fame class of inductees. Nicknamed Bird, her career spanned three decades, which included participating in the ...

Lynne Cantwell Lynne Cantwell (born 27 September 1981) is an Irish rugby union player. 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup. She is 's most capped female player. She played at the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens. In 2019, she was on the first panel to determine the Wor ...

Fiona Coghlan Fiona Coghlan (born March 3, 1981) is a former Ireland women's rugby union international. Coghlan represented Ireland at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cups. She also captained the Ireland team that won the 2013 Women's Six Nati ...

Gaëlle Mignot Gaëlle Mignot (born 26 February 1987) is a French female rugby union player. She represented at the 2010 Women's Rugby World Cup, and 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup She has played the majority of her career for Montpellier (women's rugby union) ...

Jillion Potter Jillion Paige Potter (born July 5, 1986) is an American rugby union player. She was the captain of the 2016 USA Olympic women's rugby sevens team. Childhood Jillion Potter Austin, Texas to parents Scott Potter and Vikki Vranich. She has a t ...

, Stephen Jones, and

Karl Te Nana Karl Solomon Te Nana (born 15 July 1975) is a New Zealand former rugby union and rugby league footballer, and currently works in broadcasting as a rugby commentator. A professional rugby union player, Te Nana won a gold medal as part of the Ne ...

. Since November 2020, Will has been the Chief Customer Officer at Afiniti's London Office

Personal life

Greenwood and his wife, Caroline, have three children. They also had a son Freddie who died 45 minutes after his birth in 2002. Greenwood is a patron of Child Bereavement UK, a charity which supports parents who have lost a child. Greenwood is also a Patron o
Borne
a medical research charity looking into the causes of premature birth. In April 2018, he walked to the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Ma ...

in memory of his son Freddie, who was born at 23 weeks, and helped raise over £750,000 for Borne's research. Greenwood was awarded a

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' by his alma mater

in January 2006. In August 2014, Greenwood was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' opposing

Scottish independence Scottish independence ( gd, Neo-eisimeileachd na h-Alba; sco, Scots unthirldom) is the idea of Scotland as a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom, and refers to the political movement that is campaigning to bring it about. ...

in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue. Away from rugby and cricket, Greenwood has been a supporter of Manchester City F.C. since he was 9 years old.

References

External links

Personal Website
*
Sporting heroes

Planet-rugby bio

Profile
on

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is th ...

website *
Profile at Leicester Tigers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Will 1972 births Living people Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Sedbergh School Rugby union players from Blackburn Rugby union centres Waterloo R.F.C. players Durham University RFC players