Benedict James Kay MBE (born 14 December 1975) is an English retired international rugby union footballer who played second row forward 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 home ...

, and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

Background

Kay was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, the only son of Lord Justice of Appeal Sir John William Kay (1943–2004), His sister, Dame Amanda Yip, is also a judge. His father's vocation later earned Ben the nickname " M'lud". Kay first started playing rugby for Waterloo minis going on to play for the Waterloo first team. Kay played for his school (

Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby is a 7–18 boys Private school, private day school, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside. The school's motto is that of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors: ''Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt'' (Sma ...

) and has also played for

Queensland University The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an i ...

. He represented England in the 1996 Students World Cup in South Africa and at U18, U19 and U21 level. He attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

, where he obtained a degree in Sports Science.

Career

Kay joined

from Waterloo in 1999 and first played during the

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 ...

, with Tigers' normal Second rows Martin Johnson and Fritz van Heerden away with England and respectively. With the help of Johnson and van Heerden, he developed his game, becoming a highly rated middle line-out jumper, like van Heerden. He was a member of Tigers'

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 ...

winning sides in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

as his international career blossomed. Having made his England A debut against France A in Blagnac in 2000 Kay led England A to a 23–22 win over France A at Redruth in April 2001, and was called up for England's successful tour of North America and Japan that summer. He made his

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 ...

debut against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on 2 June 2001 displacing Danny Grewcock from the England side. After another outstanding season he was named as the Tigers Members' Player of the Year 2001/2, and was a nominee for the

Zurich 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 ...

Player of the Year. He was in the starting line-up for all the Six Nations games in

, and scored a try 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 ...

. After touring with England to

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in the summer of 2002, where he scored his second try, Kay went on to compete in both the Autumn internationals and the Six Nations, before touring to New Zealand and Australia in June 2003. Kay confirmed his status as a core part of the England squad in the

when he played every minute of every England game except the game against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

. His line-out skills came to the fore here, particularly during the games against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, when Kay learned to count in Afrikaans to crack the

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko) is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

' line-out codes. During the final 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 ...

, Kay famously knocked-on (dropped the ball forwards) in a try-scoring position when a try would have almost certainly meant an England win. England won regardless, partly as a result of Tigers' teammate

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 pl ...

winning a line-out Kay himself had called.

Sir Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lio ...

selected him for the

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Mao ...

. Kay came off the bench against

in an official

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

prior to the tour. Kay started in the first Test of the series. He was the only player to play every minute of England's 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign culminating in their narrow loss in the Final. He was one of only four players to have started both the

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

RWC Finals, the other three being

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and French side Toulon and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He is particularly known for scori ...

, Jason Robinson and Phil Vickery. Kay helped Leicester win the Premiership in 2007, starting the final as they defeated

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

. He was a used replacement in every game of the 2008 Six Nations. Kay started both the

2008–09 Heineken Cup The 2008–09 Heineken Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield St ...

final and the

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 ...

win the same season. The Tigers won back-to-back Premiership titles the following season, in the 2009–10 Guinness Premiership, by beating Saracens 33–27 at Twickenham, though Kay did not feature in that game. He decided to retire at the end of the 2009–10 season after 11 years with

. He has since worked as a commentator for ESPN and BT Sport. He also served as non-executive director on Leicester Tigers' board of directors between 2014 and 2021.

Personal life

Kay is a supporter of

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

. In 2002, Kay married long-time girlfriend Virginia, a physiotherapist, and they have two children. His long time Leicester Tigers and England teammate Martin Johnson was an usher at his wedding. Kay paid his respects to his former sports teacher at Merchant Taylors, Ian 'Robbo' Robinson, who died in a white water rafting incident whilst on a rugby tour with the school.

References

External links

Tigers profile

England profile

at ESPNscrum
Ben Kay photo 1 by sportingheroes.net

Ben Kay photo 2 by sportingheroes.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kay, Ben 1975 births Living people Alumni of Loughborough University British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Loughborough Students RUFC players Members of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Sportspeople from Crosby, Merseyside Rugby union players from Merseyside Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Liverpool Waterloo F.C. players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players