Miles Benjamin (born 11 May 1988 in

Solihull Solihull ( ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Arden, Warwickshire, Forest of Arden ar ...

, West Midlands, England) is a retired

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 at

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 ...

for the

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 ...

& the

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

in the English

Aviva 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 ...

. He also played several other sports in his youth, representing the West Midlands at athletics and

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

, and

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Staffordshire and Leicestershire to the north, Northamptonshire to the east, Ox ...

at cricket. He received the Bache memorial prize for sportsman of the year from his school,

King Edward's School, Birmingham King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it ...

Club career

Worcester Warriors

Benjamin was signed by the Worcester Warriors Academy. After suffering a fractured fibula at the

Middlesex Sevens The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 T ...

in August 2006, Benjamin returned to full fitness with the help of the

physios after a year out, returning in the 2007 Middlesex Sevens tournament. Cousin, Marissa Dzotsi, who helped him through it all and was by his side and watched him play a great game. Miles plays centre and wing. His debut first-team start was against

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in the

EDF Energy Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, where he scored a try. His debut Premiership appearance was as a substitute against

at Welford Road. He scored his first Premiership try against

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 ...

in January 2008. He finished the season as the club's leading try-scorer with 15 and fourth in 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 ...

charts with nine. Benjamin was jointly awarded the Young Player of the Year prize at Worcester's end of 2007–08 season awards. He was on the losing side in the final of the

2007–08 European Challenge Cup The 2007–08 European Challenge Cup was the 12th year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between November 2007 and May 2008. Pool stage Pool 1 Pool 2 P ...

. In November 2009, Benjamin agreed a two-year deal which will keep him at

until 2012. Despite suffering relegation during the 2009–10 Guinness Premiership, Benjamin stayed with the club.

Leicester Tigers

Benjamin signed a deal with Leicester Tigers for the 2012/2013 season. In his first game for the tigers, in an 'A' League match at Northampton he suffered a serious neck injury which ruled him out for the rest of the 2012/2013 season. He finally made his 1st XV debut in October '13 against

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. His first scores for the tigers were in a

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 ...

match against

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

where he scored a brace. He scored his first Premiership try for Leicester on 5 January in a 27–27 draw against

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 ...

. He announced his retirement on 24 March 2016 due to a longstanding injury.

International career

Benjamin played for the England Under-19 team at the 2007 IRB Under-19 World Championships. He also represented the England under-20 team at the 2008 IRB Under-20 World Cup, finishing as runners up. He made his debut for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerg ...

against

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. History The Wolfounds previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Sax ...

in January 2010. He scored his first try at this level a week later, against Italy A.

Post retirement career

In 2019, Benjamin joined the employment team of law firm Lewis Silkin LLP.

References

External links

Worcester profileEngland profilePremiership profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benjamin, Miles 1988 births Living people English rugby union players Worcester Warriors players Rugby union wings Black British sportsmen People educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. players Leicester Tigers players 21st-century English sportsmen