Simon Marcus Taylor (born 17 August 1979) is a Scottish retired 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 ...

footballer who played for

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

and

Edinburgh Rugby Edinburgh Rugby (formerly Edinburgh Reivers, Edinburgh Gunners) is one of the two professional rugby union teams from Scotland. The club competes in the United Rugby Championship, along with the Glasgow Warriors, its oldest rival. Edinburgh play ...

. He played as a back-row forward, usually a number eight. He played for

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

for six seasons between 2000 and 2006 and in 2007 agreed a three-year deal with

joining them immediately after the 2007 World Cup. In the summer of 2010, Taylor signed for Bath Rugby in the English Aviva Premiership. He also represented

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

. At the start of his rugby career, he played for Heriot's Former Pupils.

Career

Early career

Born in

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

, Taylor represented Scottish Schools in 1995–96 while he was at Morrison's Academy, and he went on to play for Scotland’s under-18, under-19, and under-21 teams. He had two seasons in the under-19 team, leading the Scots in the Junior World Championship in France in 1998. After five matches for the national under-21 side in 1998–1999 he went on to play in ten more under-21 internationals in 1999–2000, including the victory over the New Zealand Youth at

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in December and the draw with Australia during the 2000 Southern Hemisphere Alliance tournament in New Zealand. In that latter match Taylor scored a try. In 1999–2000 he played a pivotal role in Heriot's FP’s second successive club championship and was rewarded with a professional contract with Edinburgh Reivers at the beginning of season 2000–2001.

2000–2003

Taylor made his first appearance for

in the November 2000 Autumn Test against the USA. In summer 2001 he made a try-scoring debut for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

in their 116–10 victory over Western Australia before a knee injury unfortunately ended his tour and he returned to Scotland to pass the final exams of his law degree at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. He scored his first test try in the match against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

on the 2002 tour in which he started at openside flanker and then made some pile-driving contributions when he was fielded at No 8 against the USA. He scored his first try in a

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen, Saughtonhall and Roseburn. The A8 road (Scotland), A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murra ...

Test match in Scotland’s 30–22 March 2003 win against

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 ...

. He was named Lloyds TSB

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 ...

for his display 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 ...

in the 29–12 Scotland victory in February 2002. On 26 May 2002, Taylor was selected to play for the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

against

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 ...

. He scored twice, but England won 53 to 29. At the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Manchester, England, ...

, Taylor was a member of the Scottish Sevens squad who won the Men's Bowl Competition Quarter Finals. Taylor was named The Famous Grouse Scotland Player of the Season for 2002–2003, fitting reward for performances encapsulated by his heroic defensive contribution to the game against England when he made 23 tackles. In the 2003 World Cup he started in every match.

2004

Taylor suffered a serious knee injury in the final game of the Six Nations in Ireland in 2004.

2005

Taylor was out for the best part of a year with a knee ligament injury and was unable to do any aerobic activity. He used the time to do some serious weight work and there is a general consensus that he is now about a stone and a half more than his official 17 stones. He returned for the Scotland v Italy Six Nations fixture and lasted the pace well enough for most of the game. He looked more like his old self in the following game vs. Wales on 13 March 2005. After the tournament, he became one of only three Scots named to the Lions for their 2005 tour to New Zealand. In New Zealand he injured a hamstring and did not play a match.

2007

Agreed a three-year deal with

. Despite residing in France, Taylor, with business partner Barrie Brown, managed a successful foray into the licensed trade wit
99 Hanover Street
a style bar in Edinburgh's city centre.

2008

With Taylor continuing his career in France the duo's new venture
Hawke and Hunter
opened in November 2008. Taylor and Brown trade as Brown Taylor Limited and Hawke & Hunter trades from the former Hallion Club on Edinburgh's Picardy Place.

2010

Having reportedly been unhappy with the number of players that play his position at Stade Français, Taylor signed a three-year deal with

. On 19 April 2013 Bath Rugby announced that Taylor was to be one of 7 players leaving the club at the end of the 2012/13 season. At that point, Taylor retired from Rugby and entered the hotel industry.

References

External links

Scotland profileBath Rugby website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Simon 1979 births Living people Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Stirling Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland Barbarian F.C. players Edinburgh Rugby players Heriot's Rugby Club players Bath Rugby players Alumni of the University of Edinburgh School of Law People educated at Morrison's Academy Scotland international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Scotland Stade Français Paris players Scottish expatriate rugby union players in France