Kristian John Chesney (born 2 March 1974) is a

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 ...

footballer who started his career at Barking RUFC, played at

flanker Flanker may refer to: * Flanker (perfume), a newly created perfume sharing attributes of an existing one * Flanker (rugby union), a position in rugby union (not found in rugby league) * ''Su-27 Flanker'' (video game), a 1996 computer game modelin ...

, number 8 and

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for Saracens (making the second-highest number of appearances for the club at 338), RC Toulon and finished his career at Southend RUFC. At an International level he has represented and Captained the

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. They have once won the Rugby World Cup Sevens — the inaugural tournament in 1993. Historically the team also competed in the World Rugby ...

and represented

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is the national under-21 association football team of England, under the control of the Football Association. It is considered to be the feeder team ...

teams and represents the Barbarians on 3 tours. He also played

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 ...

for the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

Early life

Chesney was born in

Ilford Ilford is a large List of areas of London, town in East London, England, northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Redbridge, Ilford is within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. It had a po ...

, North East London on 2 March 1974 and educated at the Chadwell Heath Foundation School, now known as Chadwell Heath Academy. Chesney did not play rugby until he was 18 because only

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

, basketball and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

were played at his school. It was a number of friends in his cricket club who also played rugby at

Barking RFC Barking RFC is an English rugby union team based in Barking, east London and currently play in the ninth tier of the English rugby union league system, Essex 1. History Park Modern Old Boys The club was founded in 1930, under the name of Park ...

who suggested that he give the game a try.

Playing career

Barking RFC 1993-95

Chesney developed his skills playing for

until, on the threshold of the professional era, he moved to

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 ...

in 1995, having rejected overtures from Harlequins and London Wasps. Despite his late introduction to the sport his progress was sufficiently rapid to merit inclusion in the

side.

Saracens 1995–2009

Chesney formally joined

on 1 July 1995, making his début against

Shannon RFC Shannon Rugby Football Club is the most successful club in the All Ireland League, having won the competition nine times. They hail from Limerick near the banks of the Shannon river. Shannon RFC is a member of the '' Irish Rugby Football Union ...

at the start of the 1995–96 Allied Dunbar Premiership season on 2 September of that year. Despite this early run out, first team appearances proved hard to come by and by 1998 spells on loan to

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

and crossing codes to appear for the then

. Upon his return to Saracens first team starts came along more often and by the 1999–00 season he had become a regular with 19 appearances in the Allied Dunbar Premiership alone. After this break through Chesney rarely relinquished his position as a first choice selection other than through injury, such as the serious cruciate and medial knee ligament damage during the 2000-01 Zurich Premiership season. One of Chesney's key strengths has been the speed he can generate for his size, which was clearly an asset that was considered in his selection to play in the

team. He has been timed at 11.2 seconds over 100 metres, and demonstrated this speed in scoring a try against the

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 ...

which brought him the award of Try of the Season for the 2004-05 Zurich Premiership season. Along with Richard Hill and Kevin Sorrell he formed part of a triumvirate that has been with the club through the entire professional era and still justified 33 appearances in the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership season. In the 2007-08 Guinness Premiership season Chesney passed the milestone of 300 appearances for Saracens in all competition and 150 appearances in the English Premiership.

Toulon 2009–

In 2009 Chesney decided to move to French club

RC Toulon Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

. On 24 March 2011 a move to

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 ...

broke down due to Chesney's desire to stay and finish his career with

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

Southend R.F.C. 2014–

In 2014 Chesney joined

Southend RFC Southend Rugby Club (also known as Southend Saxons) is an English rugby union football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. The club currently plays in the fifth tier of English club rugby, participating in Regional 1 South East following the ...

, where he is Captain of the 1st XV. Chesney has made an immediate impact, he is now Club Captain.

References

External links

Saracens profile

Guinness Premiership profile

Times profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chesney, Kris 1974 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Barking Rugby Football Club players English rugby league players English rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players in France London Broncos players Rugby league players from Greater London Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union players from the London Borough of Redbridge People from Ilford Rugby union number eights Saracens F.C. players RC Toulon players