Ben Christopher Cohen, (born 14 September 1978) is an English

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

and former rugby player. He began his professional career with

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in 1996; in 2007 he moved to France to represent

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of ), commonly known as simply Brive, 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 agglome ...

before returning to England two years later to join

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

. Cohen was a member of the

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

team that won the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...

. Cohen was a member of the

team that won the

. His main position was winger. In May 2011, Cohen retired from professional rugby. He founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

and bullying.

Early life

Cohen was born in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

. He was educated at Kingsthorpe Upper School. ( Kingsthorpe College as known today) This was not a rugby playing school and at age 12 he first started playing wit
Northampton Old Scouts RFC
Regarding his background, Cohen has stated, "My family's not

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish, but a few generations back they used to be. I think it was my great-grandfather that married a non-Jewish girl and broke with tradition."

Club career

Northampton

When he was 17 he joined

and made his first team debut against

Treorchy Treorchy (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of t ...

in the 1996/97 season, following which his name was rarely left off the team sheet. Cohen had long been linked with a move away from the club. Whilst at Northampton he started in the victorious 2000 Heineken Cup Final as they defeated

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

Brive

Following his release from contract from Northampton RFC in 2007, Cohen had been linked with midlands rivals

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 home ...

, other English and French rugby union clubs and a switch of codes to rugby league at Harlequins or

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. His future had remained uncertain after he failed to join a

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

club, several games into the season. He was selected for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, appearing in the game wearing the socks of his first club, Northampton Old Scouts RFC. It was rumoured of a move to Harlequins RL with then chairman

Ian Lenagan Ian Lenagan (born 1946, Scholes, Wigan) is a business entrepreneur. He was the chairman of Wigan Warriors from 2006 to 2023. Early life Born in Scholes, Wigan, Lenagan attended St Patrick's Primary School as a child and gained an appreciation for ...

supposedly talking to Cohen over recent months, however nothing official was ever announced and he shortly afterwards signed for Brive. Cohen signed a deal with

who play in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

competition in France. Fellow 2003 World Cup-winning and

teammate Steve Thompson was also at the club. He signed a contract until 2009. Cohen's move to the

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

based club came after Cohen had stated "I won't be moving house."

Sale Sharks

In March 2009,

announced the signing of Cohen from

on a two-year contract. The move was called a "coup" by Sale's director of rugby, Kingsley Jones. At the time Cohen believed that he could make a return to international rugby through representing Sale. Unable to participate in Sale's pre-season warm-up matches for the 2009/10 season, Cohen made his competitive debut for Sale in September 2009 in a

fixture against

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. The following month, Cohen scored his first try for Sale in a 36–17 defeat to

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. Cohen is one of the club's senior players and plays a role in developing Sale's young players. In September 2010 he noted that "I'm coming towards the end of my career and I've learnt a hell of a lot over the course of my career from some of the best coaches in the world. I think you've got to pass some of that experience down ... You have to have that blend of experience and youth and helping the younger guys out is something that I enjoy doing anyway." In late December, Cohen picked up a knee injury during Sale's 54–21 defeat to Leicester that side-lined him for six to eight weeks. It was announced in March that Cohen's contract with Sale would not be renewed and he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. He commented that "Sale don't want me anymore because they're trying to spend more money in the pack". Cohen, who represented Sale in over 50 matches, also said that if he could not secure a contract with a Premiership club he would consider retiring. On 15 May 2011 Cohen announced his retirement from the sport to focus on his anti-bullying campaign.

Representative career

At the time of his retirement, Cohen was third in the list of all time England try scorers behind

Rory Underwood Rory Underwood, (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player. He is 's record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games fo ...

and

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequin F.C., Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup, 20 ...

. In February 2000, Cohen made his

debut against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the inaugural

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

, scoring two tries. In June 2001, he joined the Lions tour to Australia, and although he did not figure in the Tests series he did score twice in the midweek match against New South Wales Country Cockatoos at

Coffs Harbour Coffs Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

. During the 2002–03 season he played in all of

's matches, scoring against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and putting in a try-saving tackle on Ben Blair, he scored twice against the

Australians Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizenship, citizens, nationality, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or ethno-cultural. For most Aust ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. He also scored against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in June 2003 as England won by 25–14, to complete their southern hemisphere tour unbeaten. In England's successful

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 name is ...

campaign he started in all but one of England's matches. In the 2004 Six Nations Cohen was named man of the match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, partly for two striking tries. He was a replacement in two of England's 2004 Autumn internationals. Cohen initially endured a difficult time after helping England lift the World Cup, admitting that he had lost his appetite for the game and he did not feature in the

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy national rugby union team, Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th ...

. However, strong club form saw him win a try-scoring recall against Australia in November 2005. He stayed among the England setup throughout 2006 and during the Autumn internationals, but missed out on the Elite England squad for the 2007 Six Nations. He regained a place in the squad for the summer tour of South Africa and raised the prospects for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

. However, in May 2007 Cohen ruled himself out of both England's summer tour and the World Cup, stating that he wished to spend time with his pregnant wife.

International tries

The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation

In 2011, Cohen founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Inc., which is, according to its website, "the world's first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying, and funding those doing real-world work to stop it". Following his retirement he announced plans to focus on the Foundation.

Personal life

In November 2000, Cohen's father Peter Cohen, brother of English World Cup winning football player

George Cohen George Reginald Cohen (22 October 1939 – 23 December 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Fulham and won the 1966 FIFA World Cup with England. He is a member o ...

, was fatally injured while protecting an attack victim at the Eternity nightclub in Northampton, which he managed. He died a month later from head injuries sustained in the assault. Three men were found guilty of violent conduct. Cohen has

tinnitus Tinnitus is a condition when a person hears a ringing sound or a different variety of sound when no corresponding external sound is present and other people cannot hear it. Nearly everyone experiences faint "normal tinnitus" in a completely ...

and is clinically

deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an audiological condition. In this context it is written ...

, with about 30 to 33 percent hearing loss in each ear. He has been involved in efforts to make rugby more accessible to the hard of hearing, especially young deaf players. During March 2011 High and Mighty, the big and tall menswear specialist, appointed Cohen as the new face of the brand for 2011. Cohen was married to Abby Blayney in 2003, and they had twin daughters in 2008. The couple separated in 2014, and divorced in March 2016. On 13 November 2022, Cohen and

Kristina Rihanoff Kristina Rihanoff (,: Kristina Pshenichnykh; born 22 September 1977) is a Russian professional ballroom dancer. Early life The daughter of two engineers, Rihanoff was born and grew up in Vladivostok, Russia, and started taking dance lessons ...

, with whom he had a daughter in 2016, announced their engagement.

Status as a gay icon

Cohen appeared on the cover of '' Compete Magazine'' July 2011 issue and the cover of ''

Out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

'' in August 2011. On 18 June 2013, he was named as one of the initial inductees to the

National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame In 2013, the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame (formerly the National Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) was established to honor exceptional members of the LGBTQ community who have made significant and lasting contributions to the world of athletics and all ...

newly established in Chicago, Illinois. In 2010, Cohen donated a signed

jockstrap A jockstrap is an undergarment for protecting the scrotum and penis or vulva during contact sports or other vigorous physical activity. This article deals chiefly with the genital protective sports gear designed for the male body, colloquially ...

to support

GMFA GMFA (originally Gay Men Fighting AIDS) is a British health promotion charitable project that campaigns to improve gay men’s health. Its core interventions tackle issues including HIV, AIDS and other areas of sexual health. GMFA is part of ...

, a British charity addressing gay men's health issues, which was sold at auction at the

Royal Vauxhall Tavern The Royal Vauxhall Tavern is a Grade II listed gay entertainment venue in Vauxhall, London. It is also known as the RVT. It is South London's oldest surviving gay venue. History The RVT was built between 1860 and 1862 at Spring Gardens, Kennin ...

. He also featured on the front cover and in an interview section of GMFA's printed FS Magazine in November 2010. Cohen founded The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation to combat bullying, and he has specifically noted homophobia as one of the bullying problems on the StandUp agenda.

TV appearances

In September 2013, Cohen took part as a contestant in the eleventh series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

''. He was partnered with Russian professional dancer

. The couple were later eliminated from the competition. In January 2016, Cohen took part as a contestant on the

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of '' The Jump'', as a replacement for Mark-Francis Vandelli. He later won the series on 6 March 2016, beating

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( né Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of '' Ripley's Believe It or Not! ...

. In 2017, Cohen was a contestant on season 7, episode 8 of '' The Celebrity Chase''. In January 2018, he participated in ''

And They're Off! ''And They're Off!'' (also known as ''And They're Off!... for Sport Relief'') is a British television programme hosted by Ore Oduba with commentary from Dave Lamb and demonstrations from Daryll Neita and is shown on BBC One, featuring contestants ...

'' in aid of

Sport Relief ''Sport Relief'' was a wikt:biennial, biennial charity event from Comic Relief, in association with BBC Sport, established in 2002. It was the idea of Kevin Cahill, CBE, who had joined Comic Relief in 1991 to establish a new department as Dire ...

. In December 2023, Cohen participated in ITV's '' The Real Full Monty'' to raise awareness of cancer.

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Ben 1978 births Living people People educated at Kingsthorpe College Anti-bullying activists Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England CA Brive players Deaf activists British activists with disabilities English deaf people Deaf rugby players England international rugby union players English people of Jewish descent English rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players in France English LGBTQ rights activists Members of the Order of the British Empire Northampton Saints players Rugby union players from Northampton Rugby union wings Sale Sharks players Inductees of the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame 2003 Rugby World Cup players

Ben Ben is frequently used as a shortened version of the given names Benjamin, Benedict, Bennett, Benson or Ebenezer, and is also a given name in its own right. Ben meaning "son of" is also found in Arabic as ''Ben'' (dialectal Arabic) or ''bin ...