Christopher Leslie Horsman (born 2 February 1978) is a former professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played as a

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. Although he was born in England and played for England at youth level, he elected to play senior international rugby for Wales after qualifying on residency; during his time with

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

and the Celtic Warriors, he lived in

Porthcawl Porthcawl () is a town and community in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales. It is located on the south coast, west of Cardiff and south-east of Swansea. Historically part of Glamorgan and situated on a low limestone headland on the South ...

, where he remained after signing for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

in the wake of the Celtic Warriors' dissolution in 2004. He played 14 times for Wales between 2005 and 2007.

Club career

Horsman attended

Sheldon School Sheldon School (formerly Chippenham Boys' High School) is a large mixed secondary school and sixth form in Chippenham, Wiltshire for students aged 11 to 18 and is the largest school in Wiltshire. Since April 2011, it has been an Academy. It is ...

Chippenham, Wiltshire Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...

and represented

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 ...

at youth international level. Horsman started his club career at

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

in 1997 before joining

in 2002. With the advent of regional rugby in Wales, Horsman was called up to the Celtic Warriors regional side, but when the club was disbanded due to financial difficulties in 2004 he was forced to seek another club. Horsman signed for

in July 2004 and established himself as one of the best props in the English game. He signed a contract extension at the beginning of 2006 to keep him at Sixways until the summer of 2010 but in July 2009 he announced his retirement after a series of injuries.

International career

Horsman was offered a place in the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents the Rugby Football Union (RFU) in international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France national rugby union team, France, Ireland national rugby union team, ...

, but two separate bouts with cancer prevented him from playing for England. During his time playing for the Celtic Warriors, he lived in

and was approached by national team head coach Mike Ruddock about playing for Wales. It was originally thought that he would qualify through the three-year international residency rule in June 2005; however, although he had lived in Wales since June 2002, he was unable to find the paperwork to prove it and his eligibility was pushed back to September 2005. He made his debut for Wales against

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at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

on 5 November 2005, coming on as a second-half substitute. He made his first start the following week against Fiji; during the game, he limped off with an injury that put his place in the team in doubt for the next game against South Africa; however, he recovered in time to start that match and the following week against Australia. He scored his first and only try against England at the Millennium Stadium on 17 March 2007. In August 2007, he was selected for the Wales squad 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 ...

, starting in the 73–18 win over

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and the infamous 38–34 loss to Fiji that saw Wales eliminated from the competition in the pool stage. The game against Fiji was the last of his 14 caps for Wales.

Refereeing and coaching

Following his retirement as a player, Horsman announced his intentions to begin training as a referee. Horsman has also pursued a coaching career within the Welsh setup, as head coach of

RGC 1404 RGC 1404 (Rygbi Gogledd Cymru 1404), formerly "Gogledd Cymru" (, "North Wales"), is a rugby union team founded in 2008 and based in Colwyn Bay, Conwy. They currently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru; after winning Division 1 East at the first atte ...

from 2012 to 2014, and subsequent appointments within Wales' age-grade teams. In 2018, Horsman coached the

Wales national under-20 rugby union team The Wales national under-20 rugby union team is for Welsh rugby union players aged 20 or under on 1 January of the year during which they are selected. Under-20 age grade rugby came into existence as a result of the IRB combining the Under 19 Rugb ...

Personal life

In 1997, Horsman was diagnosed with

testicular cancer Testicular cancer is cancer that develops in the testicles, a part of the male reproductive system. Symptoms may include a lump in the testicle or swelling or pain in the scrotum. Treatment may result in infertility. Risk factors include an c ...

, which was successfully treated at the

Royal Marsden The Royal Marsden Hospital is a specialist National Health Service oncology hospital in London based at two sites in Brompton, in Kensington and Chelsea, and Belmont in Sutton. It is managed by The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust and supp ...

hospital in

Sutton, London Sutton is a town in the London Borough of Sutton in South London, England. It is the administrative headquarters of the Outer London borough, on the lower slopes of the North Downs. It is south-southwest of Charing Cross, one of the fourteen ...

; only for him to be later diagnosed with a strain of

lymphatic cancer Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

. The second occurrence of this cancer was also treated successfully and Horsman returned to rugby.

Club career

International career

Refereeing and coaching

Personal life

References

External links