Harry Ellis

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Harry Ellis
Harry Ellis rugby (cropped).jpg
Ellis passing the ball out of a ruck playing against and gurning Ireland
Birth nameHarry Alistair Ellis
Date of birth (1982-05-17) 17 May 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth Wigston, Leicestershire, England
Height5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)
Weight13 st 8 lb (100 kg)
SchoolLeicester Grammar School
UniversityDe Montfort University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2001–2010 Leicester Tigers 173 (145)
Correct as of 8 July 2010
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2004–2009 England 27 (25)
2009 British & Irish Lions 1 (0)
Correct as of 8 July 2010

Harry Alistair Ellis (born 17 May 1982) is an English former rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions.

Contents

In July 2010, Ellis announced his retirement from the game as a result of a persistent knee injury. [1] He now works at his former school, Leicester Grammar School, teaching PE to A-Level and GCSE students, and contributing to the coaching of its 1st XV and other sporting teams.

Club career

Ellis first played rugby union as a 6-year-old with the South Leicester club. He studied at Bushloe High School and later Leicester Grammar School, where he represented Leicester Schools and the Midlands at every age level. He also became a teacher for a short period of time.

He spent a year with the Wigston club South Leicester RUFC before he finally joined the Leicester Tigers Academy where he combined playing with further education at De Montfort University. He worked his way through the Tigers lower teams and continued his representative career, playing for both the England U19 and U21 sides. He has also featured in the England Sevens squad along with his teammate Louis Deacon.

In August 2001, he made his first team Tigers debut in the Orange Cup game in Toulouse. In Leicester's 2002 Heineken Cup quarter final, Ellis scored the only try of the game, breaking away from a ruck and sliding over on the wet ground. Ellis went on to score a superb individual try that helped defeat Llanelli in the Heineken Cup semi-final at Nottingham. [2] In the final itself Ellis came on as a replacement as Leicester emerged victorious. [3] He was named Tigers' Players Young Player of the Year for the 2001–2 season.

He finally established himself as a regular in the No. 9 spot during the 2003–04 season, making 19 appearances and helping Tigers come back from a poor start and a turbulent mid-season to reach the Zurich Wild Card final.

Ellis suffered knee ligament damage against Bristol on 5 May 2007 in the Guinness Premiership semi-final play-off. He played an influential role in the Tigers' domestic double success, but the injury meant him missing out on the Premiership and Heineken Cup finals.

The Heineken Cup semi-final against Cardiff Blues resulted in a historic sudden death kicking competition. [4] The shoot-out ended before Ellis's turn came up – though it was a close run thing, as either he or Tom Croft were to follow Jordan Crane. [5] Although the Tigers fell at the final hurdle of the Heineken Cup, they won the 2008–09 Guinness Premiership final, which Ellis did not feature in but was an unused replacement. [6]

Ellis started the 2009/10 season as first-choice scrum-half for Leicester, but suffered an injury in training, which left him out of the game for a significant part of the season. He returned to play in the Guinness A league, and helped the Tigers A team to victory. [7]

His last game for the senior side came against Northampton Saints in the LV= Cup. [8]

International career

Ellis played for the England A, Under 16 Group and Under 18 Group schools sides. In fact, he played for the England Under 18 side when he was only 16.

Ellis was selected on England's 2004 summer tour as third choice scrum half behind Matt Dawson and Andy Gomarsall and did not play, however he made his England debut from the bench in their 32–16 win over the Springboks in autumn 2004. He also made an appearance as a replacement in the game against Australia.

He subsequently became a regular fixture in the England side, rotating with Matt Dawson during the 2005 Six Nations. Ellis scored his debut try for England in the 2005 Calcutta Cup win over Scotland. He lost out to Matt Dawson for the opening two Autumn tests in 2005 but took his chance superbly against Samoa, scoring an outstanding solo try in what was comfortably his best test match performance. This helped secured him the no 9 shirt for four games of the 2006 6 Nations.

He was left out of the Summer development tour to Australia, but was chosen again for the Elite Player England Squad for the 2006/2007 season. Ellis was not included in the 2006 Autumn internationals that saw England head coach Andy Robinson lose his job, but when Brian Ashton was appointed as his successor Ellis was named in the team to start England's 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland. In this game Ellis came of age and it was arguably one of his best performances in an England shirt. He consistently retained his place throughout the 2007 Six Nations, starting in every game and scoring a try in the loss to Wales.

Ellis was ruled out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup due to the knee injury suffered in the Premiership.

He had a very successful 2009 Six Nations tournament, starting for England as a result of the ankle injury to Danny Care, [9] and went on to score two tries in a man-of-the-match performance against Italy, where his opposite number was, unusually, Mauro Bergamasco. [10] He started all subsequent Six Nations matches, where he played scrum-half to former teammate Andy Goode, and then current teammate Toby Flood's fly-half. His last game for England came in the Calcutta Cup win over Scotland. [11]

He was picked for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour, where he played as a substitute in the final Test win against the Springboks in Ellis Park. [12]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Johnson (rugby union)</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player & coach

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.

Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey, is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Back</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Neil Antony Back MBE is a former international rugby union footballer for England and the British & Irish Lions who also played for Nottingham RFC, Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Kay</span> English and British & Irish Lions rugby union footballer

Benedict James Kay MBE is an English retired international rugby union footballer who played second row forward for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geordan Murphy</span> Rugby player

Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy is an Irish rugby union rugby coach and player who retired from the professional game as the most-decorated man in Premiership Rugby history. He played as fullback or wing for the Irish international team and the English club Leicester Tigers as well as for the British & Irish Lions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Corry (rugby union)</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Martin Edward Corry MBE is a retired English rugby union player who represented and captained England and Leicester Tigers in a career spanning 14 seasons. Corry played 64 times for England between 1997 and 2007, played 7 tests for the British & Irish Lions on tours in 2001 & 2005, and played 290 times for Leicester between 1997 and 2009. Earlier in his career he played top division rugby for Newcastle Gosforth and Bristol. A versatile player his principal positions were number eight and blindside flanker, he also played lock more as his career progressed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis Moody</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Lewis Walton Moody MBE is an English retired rugby union player. He played for Leicester Tigers and Bath Rugby and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Goode</span> England international rugby union player

Andrew James Goode is a sports pundit and retired rugby union player. Goode had an 18-year professional career playing over 400 games and scoring over 4,000 points. He played professionally in England, France and South Africa featuring for Leicester Tigers, Saracens, Worcester Warriors, Wasps and Newcastle Falcons in England's Premiership Rugby, CA Brive in France's Top 14 and for Super Rugby's Sharks in South Africa. Goode represented England 17 times between 2005 and 2009 scoring 107 points.

Joseph Paul Richard Worsley, is a retired English rugby union player who played flanker for Wasps and England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Shaw</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Simon Dalton Shaw MBE is a former English rugby union player who played as a lock. He played for Bristol, London Wasps and Toulon. He won 71 caps for England between 1996 and 2011, and 2 for the British & Irish Lions, with whom he toured 3 times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean de Villiers</span> Rugby player

Jean de Villiers is a South African former professional rugby union player. He started his career at wing, but played most of his career as an inside centre. De Villiers previously played for Western Province in the Currie Cup, the Stormers in Super Rugby, Leicester Tigers in Premiership Rugby and internationally for South Africa, for whom he was named captain in June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danny Care</span> England international rugby union player

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toby Flood</span> England international rugby union player

Tobias Gerald Albert Cecil Lieven Flood is an English rugby union coach and former player. He is currently kicking and skills coach at Newcastle Falcons in Premiership Rugby. During his playing career his position was fly half or inside centre. He played over 300 games in his club career across his three professional clubs, Newcastle Falcons, Toulouse and Leicester Tigers. He played 60 international matches for England between 2006 and 2014.

Daniel James Hipkiss is a retired rugby union player who won 13 caps for England between 2007–10, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Hipkiss played 130 times for Leicester Tigers between 2001–11 before moving to Bath prior to retiring in May 2013. Principally an outside centre Hipkiss also played inside centre, and earlier in his career on the wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Croft</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Tom Croft is a retired rugby union player. He played 173 games for Leicester Tigers between 2005–17 winning four Premiership Rugby titles, played 40 times for England between 2008–2015, was part of the squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and the British & Irish Lions in 2009 to South Africa and 2013 to Australia. His career was somewhat plagued with a variety of minor and serious injuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Youngs</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Benjamin Ryder Youngs is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers, and is the all time appearance record holder with 127 caps for the England national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Cole (rugby union)</span> British Lions & England international rugby union player

Daniel Richard Cole is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team.

Dean Richards is a rugby union coach and former player for Leicester Tigers, England and British & Irish Lions. He was most recently the Director of Rugby at Newcastle Falcons, a position he held for ten years between 2012 and 2022.

Samuel James Harrison is an English former rugby union footballer who played 178 games as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers between 2008 and 2020.

Ernst Joubert is a South African former rugby union player. He played at Number Eight for Saracens in the Aviva Premiership from 2009 to 2015 and was the vice captain of the team. He retired from all rugby at the end of November 2015.

References

  1. leicestertigers.com https://web.archive.org/web/20160827005718/http://www.leicestertigers.com/news/15137.php. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. "Leicester break Llanelli hearts". BBC News. 28 April 2002.
  3. "Leicester hang on to defend Heineken crown". espn.co.uk. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. Cleary, Mick (3 May 2009). "Leicester reach Heineken Cup final". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  5. "I enjoyed pressure kick – Crane". BBC Sport. 3 May 2009.
  6. "Leicester 10-9 London Irish". BBC. 16 May 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. "Tigers crowned 'A' league champions". Guinness Premiership website. 4 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  8. "Saints clinch Midlands derby". Planet Rugby website. 6 February 2010. Archived from the original on 10 February 2010. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  9. "Harry Ellis starts for England in Six Nations opener". The Telegraph. London. 5 February 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  10. "Six Nations: England 36–11 Italy – Harry Ellis provides a boost for Martin Johnson". Mirror. 8 February 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  11. "England 26–12 Scotland". BBC Sport. 21 March 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2010.
  12. "South Africa 9-28 Lions". 4 July 2009.