Nicholas James Easter (born 15 August 1978) is an 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 ...

coach and former player. He played as a Number 8 for Orrell, Harlequins and the England national team. He began his career in 2001, playing for Orrell, before moving to Harlequins three years later. He began playing for the England national team in 2007, playing in the

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 ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

s, as well as the annual

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

s. Aged 38, he retired in 2016.

Early life

Easter is the elder brother of

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 ...

player Mark Easter and the nephew of author

Anne Easter Smith Anne Easter Smith is a British-American historical novelist known for her series of books set in The Wars of the Roses. Early life and education Easter Smith grew up in England, Germany and Egypt. She was educated at British School Suez and bo ...

. His father,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, played squash professionally and reached No. 1 in Britain and No. 9 in the world. His great grandfather, Pieter Le Roux, played for 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 ...

. He attended the South London public school

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

and

Nottingham Trent University Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a public research university located in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843 with the establishment of the Nottingham School of Design, Nottingham Government School of Design, which still opera ...

Club career

After a period working in London, Easter moved to Rosslyn Park F.C. before moving onto Orrell. In 2004, Easter signed for Harlequins. Easter has won the Harlequins Player of the year award four times in 2004–05, 2005–06, 2012–13 and 2014–15 season at the age of 36. He was voted Aviva Premiership forward of the year in 2013 & 2014. In the penultimate game of the 2013–14 season, against Bath, Nick became the most capped Harlequin in the professional era with 233 appearances. During this period he won the 2012 Premiership, 2011 Amlin Cup and 2013 LV Cup. His final game was the European Challenge Cup final loss to Montpellier in May 2016.

Retirement

After 15 seasons, 54 international appearances and a record 281 appearances for Harlequins, Easter announced his retirement on 29 July 2016.

International career

A skilful and powerful No 8, Easter a late comer to professional rugby made his England debut in their Six Nations victory over

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 ...

on 10 February 2007. On 4 August 2007, Easter scored four tries as England defeated

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

by a record 62–5 at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

, in a

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 ...

warm-up fixture, which made Easter the first ever number 8 to score four tries for England. He started six matches 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 ...

, where he was a key influence in England's route to the final, where they suffered a 6–15 defeat to

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 ...

in the final. During the 2008 Six Nations, he was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

in England's 24–13 success over

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In their following campaign, Easter started in all five of England's matches. During England's tour to Australia in 2010, he was named man of the match in their second test victory, 21–20 over

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 ...

, helping secure England's first win over ''The Wallabies'' since their

success on Australian soil in 2003. Later that year, he captained his country during the autumn internationals, where they defeated

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

26–13. Easter was part of the England squad that won the 2011 Six Nations, despite defeat to

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 ...

24–8, which resulted in them missing out on the grand slam. He lifted the Six Nations trophy as England captain, their first trophy win since the 2003 World Cup. He was also part of England's squad in the

, and was reported to be the player to have reacted to England's quarter-final defeat to France in Auckland, by saying "There's £35k just gone down the toilet." Between 2012 and 2014 he found his road into the England squad blocked, before being recalled to the squad for their 2015 Six Nations campaign. In their opening game, he came on as a substitute in their 21–16 success over

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 ...

. In their following fixture, he scored a try against Italy, becoming the oldest player ever to score for England, before winning his fiftieth cap away to Ireland. After being overlooked for the initial 31-man England squad for the

, Easter was called up as injury replacement for Billy Vunipola. He put in a man of the match performance in England's final fixture against Uruguay, scoring a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mechan ...

of tries.

International Tries

Coaching career

In 2016, immediately after confirming his retirement as a player, Easter became Harlequins' defence coach. He left his position in July 2018, following a change of management, ending his fourteen-year association with the club. He then joined the Natal Sharks in South Africa as forwards and attack coach for the Currie Cup campaign in 2018 which they won beating Western Province in the final 17–12. He re-signed with the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

for Super Rugby & Currie Cup 2019 as forwards and defence coach. After his stint overseas Nick returned to England and signed for Premiership club

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 ...

as defence and breakdown coach in 2020. He left in 2022 for rival Premiership club

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 ...

as forwards and defence coach under new Director of Rugby Steve Diamond, sadly the club went into administration soon after joining. Nick soon joined up with Chinnor RFC in National League One as Director or Rugby in December 2022, the club were 2 wins from 11 and second from bottom but Easter steered them to 8th place with 11 wins from the remaining 15 games well clear of the drop zone. The following season Chinnor RFC won the league and got promoted to the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men's English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when Eng ...

for the first time in their history beating Birmingham Moseley away 52-0 with a game to spare. Since July 2023 Easter has also been coaching the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States in men's international rugby union competitions. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, a ...

as forwards and defence coach.

Outside rugby

Easter has appeared in three episodes of

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

programme ''

A Question of Sport ''A Question of Sport'' (known as ''Question of Sport'' from 2021 until 2023) is a British television sports quiz show produced and broadcast by the BBC. It was the "world's longest running TV sports quiz". Following a pilot episode in December ...

'' between 2008 and 2010. In 2016, he appeared in an episode of '' Pointless Celebrities'', partnered with former rugby union and rugby league footballer;

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted ...

. In 2020 he launched a podcast with World Cup winner Kyran Bracken calle
Ruck It!

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Easter, Nick 1978 births Living people Alumni of Nottingham Trent University England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Villager FC players Harlequin F.C. players People educated at Dulwich College Orrell R.U.F.C. players Rosslyn Park F.C. players Rugby union players from Epsom Rugby union number eights 2007 Rugby World Cup players 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players