David Strettle (born 23 July 1983) is a former English
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 ...
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...
.
Early life
Strettle grew up in
Thelwall,
Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...
, attending
Lymm High School and playing for
Lymm RFC. Strettle then went on to study at
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...
.
Career
In the summer of 2006, Strettle joined the Harlequins from
Rotherham
Rotherham ( ) is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies at the confluence of the River Rother, South Yorkshire, River Rother, from which the town gets its name, and the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don. It is the largest settlement ...
, and made his club debut in the pre-season friendly against
ASM Clermont
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French professional rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, French league s ...
on 6 August of that year.
As a teenager, he was a talented footballer, appearing on the books 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 ...
,
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
and
Crewe Alexandra. He was also a keen
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
fan.
Strettle scored a hat trick on his Rotherham debut against Rugby Lions and made his Premiership debut for the Titans against Bath in October 2003. He was Rotherham's top try-scorer in National One in the 2004–05 season scoring 18 tries in 22 appearances.
Strettle was known as "Ducks" at Harlequins after
David Duckham, a player with whom Strettle has drawn comparison, and was touted as a future England winger. He scored a hat trick in the game against Newcastle Falcons and was included in the
England Saxons squad for the team's games against
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
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 ...
, scoring in both games.
Strettle was also a regular in the
England sevens squad throughout the 2005/06 IRB World Seven Series. He won a surprise call up to the England starting XV for its
2007 Six Nations game against Ireland at
Croke Park
Croke Park (, ) is a Gaelic games stadium in Dublin, Ireland. Named after Archbishop Thomas Croke, it is referred to as Croker by GAA fans and locals. It serves as both the principal national stadium of Ireland and headquarters of the Gaelic At ...
in the place of the injured
Jason Robinson, and scored England's only try in the 43–13 defeat on his debut. He also started in the win over France and the defeat to Wales.
On 2 May 2007, Strettle was named as the Professional Rugby Player's Association Young Player of the Season. He was also named in the Sky Sports Dream Team for the Guinness Premiership season 2006–07, along with fellow Harlequin and England hopeful Mike Brown. Also in May 2007, Strettle was named in the England Rugby squad to tour South Africa. Unfortunately, he came down with food poisoning along with other members of the squad, which prevented him from starting in England's 58–10 record defeat to South Africa.
On 16 August 2007, a confusing article appeared on Harlequins official site. It seemed to suggest that Strettle had crossed codes and signed for
Harlequins RL. The basis of the story was that he was also a registered Harlequins Rugby League club player, as many players in
Harlequins Rugby Union side were.
He returned to play for Harlequins after recovering from the injury that put him out of 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 ...
and was called up to 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 ...
squad for the
2008 Six Nations Championship.
He started the game against Wales but was withdrawn early on following a metatarsal break, which ruled him out of the rest of the tournament.
It was announced on 25 March 2010 that he would be playing rugby for Saracens from the start of
2010–11 season. During his time at Saracens he won two
Premiership titles in 2011 and 2015. Strettle started both finals.
Strettle stayed with Saracens for a further four seasons, scoring 49 tries, until it was announced he would be playing for the French side
Clermont Auvergne, beginning from the 2015-16
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 ...
season.
On 25 January 2018, Strettle re-signed with
Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens
''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...
on a one-year contract, from the 2018–19 season. Upon his return to Saracens he helped them win the
2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup, in the final of which he was a replacement. He was also a replacement as Saracens won the 2019 Premiership final.
Personal life
Strettle is an aficionado of
Football Manager
''Football Manager'', also known as ''Worldwide Soccer Manager'' in North America from 2004 to 2008, is a series of football management simulation video games developed by British developer Sports Interactive and published by Sega. The game beg ...
, and sees himself as having the knack for "picking up players on the cheap and turning them into the new
Rooney or
Henry
Henry may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters
* Henry (surname)
* Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone
Arts and entertainmen ...
". This was an idea he floated to the Saracens coaching staff after a serious injury to flyhalf Derick Hougaard and resulted in Venter bringing in Owen Farrell at 10. He recently boasted of his ability to turn
West Ham
West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross.
The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...
into a top European team within 2 to 3 seasons, while also stating that he was a "world class football manager".
Strettle's England teammates gave Strettle a new nickname during the 2007 Six Nations Championship. During training sessions, fellow players called him 'The Milkman' as he was known to always deliver a great performance during matches. This was revealed in a post-match interview after England's loss to Ireland.
International tries
References
External links
Clermont Auvergne profile*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strettle, David
1983 births
Living people
Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University
England international rugby union players
English rugby union players
Harlequin F.C. players
People from Grappenhall and Thelwall
People from Lymm
Rotherham Titans players
Rugby union players from Cheshire
Rugby union wings
ASM Clermont Auvergne players
English expatriate rugby union players in France
Cheshire RFU players
Saracens F.C. players
People educated at Lymm High School