Rob Cook (born 7 July 1984 in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

) is an English 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 for Premiership side

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

as a fullback. Former Deputy-Director of Sport and Director of Rugby at King Edward VI Grammar School Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Early life

Rob Cook was born on 7 July 1984 in

, England. He attended

Oakham School Oakham School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school) in Oakham, Rutland, England. The school was founded in 1584 by Archdeacon Robert Johnson, along with Uppingham School, a few miles away. They share a common b ...

for two years in their 6th Form. In this time, he captained the rugby, cricket and football 1st teams. He won the

Daily Mail Cup The National Schools Cup (currently known as the Continental Tyres Schools Cup for sponsorship reasons) are a set of annual English schools' rugby union cup competitions, with the U18 Cup being the main competition. The finals of the Cup and Vase ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in 2002, scoring his first try in the process. He attended Worcester University, where he read sports studies and played for the rugby team. He gained Representative Honours with England Universities, Midlands U18s and England Counties.

Club career

Cook joined Nuneaton R.F.C. in 2007. He remained with them for two seasons (2007/8 and 2008/9), making 51 first team appearances at Full Back or

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

and scoring 140 points. While at the Nuns he helped them to gain promotion to

National Division Two National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

when the club won the National Division Three North league title in 2008–09 as well as gaining selection for the

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

due to his good form. On 7 May 2009, Cook signed for

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 ...

side Cornish

Pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

. Initially on the wing, he quickly moved to fly-half, before switching to full back where he remained for the rest of his Pirates tenure. He was a prolific points scorer. In each of his three seasons with the club (2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12), he was their highest scoring player, accumulating over 1,000 points. In 2011/12 he was named in the Championship "Dream Team" as he racked up a thousand points for the Pirates and over one hundred first team appearances. Initially linked with 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 ...

, he signed a contract extension with Pirates. He rescinded this deal to play in the Premiership joining

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

in July 2012. On 18 October 2013, Cook signed a two-year contract extension to stay with Gloucester until the end of the 2015–16 season. He has been known for his unusual stance before attempting a conversion or penalty.

Honours

Nuneaton * National Division Three North champions: 2008–09 Cornish Pirates *

runner-up (2 times):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2011–12 Malvern RFC *

Midlands 2 West (South) Counties 1 Midlands West (South) (formerly Midlands 2 West (South)) is a level seven English rugby union league and level three of the Midlands League, made up of teams from the southern part of the West Midlands region including Herefordshir ...

runner-up: 2017–18 * North Midlands Shield champions: 2017-18 County/Representative *Selected for Midlands Under 18's *Selected for England Universities *Selected for

: 2009

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cook, Rob 1984 births Living people Alumni of the University of Worcester English rugby union players Cornish Pirates players Gloucester Rugby players People educated at Oakham School Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Lincoln, England