Martin Osborne Johnson CBE is an English retired rugby union player who represented and captained England and Leicester in a career spanning 16 seasons. He captained England to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and is regarded as one of the greatest locks ever to have played, and one of England's greatest ever players.
Northampton Saints is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Wasps Rugby Football Club was a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby, until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022, the club entered administration, resulting in relegation from the league and all staff being made redundant. They exited administration on 16 December 2022.
Jeremy Clayton Guscott is an English former rugby union player who played for Bath, England and the British Lions. Usually an outside centre, he also appeared for England on the wing.
Michael John Catt OBE is a South African-born former rugby union player who played for the England national rugby union team. He played professionally for the clubs London Irish and Bath. He earned 75 international caps for England and played in two World Cup Finals, in 2003 and 2007. With his appearance in the October 2007 final, at age 36 years 1 month, he became the oldest ever player to play in a Rugby World Cup final. Since 2008, Catt has coached various rugby teams, and has since 2019 been an assistant coach for the Ireland national rugby team.
Daniel Joseph Lyle is an American former rugby union player who played for the United States national rugby union team 45 times from 1994 to 2003, serving as U.S. captain in 24 of those matches. Lyle played number eight.
Federico Eduardo Méndez Azpillaga is an Argentine rugby union footballer. Méndez played professional rugby in South Africa, England and France. He also played for Mendoza Rugby Club in Argentina and won 74 caps for the Argentina national rugby union team, including appearances at four Rugby World Cups, in 1991, 1995 and 2003. Mendez was considered the best hooker at the 1995 World Cup and had the unique ability to play hooker, loosehead or tighthead.
Andrew Douglas Nicol, is a former Scotland international rugby union player. A scrum-half, Nicol won 23 caps for Scotland and had brief spells as a replacement on two British & Irish Lions tours.
Ieuan Cennydd Evans is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He is the fourth highest try scorer for Wales behind Shane Williams, George North and Gareth Thomas and joint 24th in the world on the all-time test try scoring list. Evans held the record for the most Wales caps as captain with 28, a record overtaken by Ryan Jones in 2012.
Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer.
Shaun Edwards, OBE is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A scrum-half or stand-off, Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 winner's medals. In 2015 he was the 25th person inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.
Jonathan Edward Brooks Callard is a coach at the Rugby Football Union's National Academy. He formerly played rugby union at fullback for Bath and England. He is the brother of ex-Newport RFC player Nigel Callard.
Daniel Stuart Care is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and the England national team.
Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involved England, was played in Scotland. The England national team compete annually in the Six Nations Championship, and are former world champions after winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. The top domestic men's club competition is Premiership Rugby, and English clubs also compete in international competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup. The top domestic women's competition is the Premier 15s.
Delon Anthony Armitage is a rugby union coach and former player who played at wing or fullback for Lyon OU and is capped for England. He also occasionally played centre. Armitage started out at London Irish and Toulon. He sometimes did place kicking, mainly from a distance or if the regular kicker was unable to take it. He left Toulon at the end of the 2015/2016 season to join French Top 14 side Lyon. He retired at the end of the 2018/2019 season.
David Ivor Walter Hilton is a former professional rugby union player who played as a prop. Although he was born in England, he qualified to play for the Scotland national team by virtue of a grandfather who he believed was born in Scotland; however, it later emerged that his grandfather's birth was registered in England. Despite this, Hilton completed a residency period to restore his Scottish eligibility, and he went on to win a total of 42 caps in a seven-year international career. At club level, he played for Bath, Glasgow and Bristol.
Eric Peters is a Scottish former amateur and professional rugby union player, usually playing at Number 8, who rose to captain the Scotland national rugby union team.
The 2002–03 European Challenge Cup was the 7th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 32 teams participated, representing eight countries.
Michael McCarthy is an English-born retired Irish professional rugby union. He played his club rugby for the Irish provincial team Leinster Rugby in the Pro14, having joined from rival Irish team Connacht in 2013. He played in the second row and as a flanker.
Clash of the Codes was a special two match inter-code series between rugby union side Bath and rugby league side Wigan, played in May 1996. Other Clash of Codes games have also taken place.
