Jon Boden (rugby union)

Jon Boden

Born	(1978-10-19) 19 October 1978 (age 47)
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Fly-half, Centre Current team Leicester Lions Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2000–02 Gran Parma 2002–04 Rugby Lions 48 (295) 2004–06 Doncaster Knights 55 (92) 2007– Leicester Lions 278 (2,064) Correct as of 5 May 2018
Rugby league career
Playing information
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P London Broncos

Jon Boden (born 19 October 1978) is a rugby union footballer/coach, currently playing at Fly-half or Centre for Leicester Lions in National League 2 North. ^{[1] [2]} He has played higher level rugby (second tier) for Rugby Lions and Doncaster Knights, as well as European rugby with Italian side Gran Parma (now disbanded). An excellent kicker, as of the end of the 2015–16 season, Jon is the all-time points scorer in National League 2 North with over 2,000 points. ^[3]

Career

After spending some of his early career playing rugby league with the London Broncos, Jon moved to Italy to play rugby union for Italian side, Gran Parma, where he became a regular in the team, gaining Super 10 and European Shield experience. In the autumn of 2002, after two years in Italy, Jon returned to England to sign for the Rugby Lions, then playing in division 2 of the English rugby union league system. ^[4] Despite appearing and scoring regularly for the Lions, Jon's time with the club was not successful, as they suffered consecutive relegations in the two seasons he was there. ^{[5] [6]}

Following the Lion's relegation, in the summer of 2004 Jon moved north to sign for Doncaster, who were playing in the same division that Rugby had just been relegated from. After several dismal seasons, Jon's luck was to change as he made 20 league appearances for his new club, who won the league and promotion to the second division. ^[7] Jon spent several more seasons with Doncaster, where he became a squad player, but decided to leave during the 2006–07 season as Doncaster were becoming a professional outfit and he could not combine full-time rugby with his other job role as a school teacher.

At the start of 2007 Jon joined tier 4 side, Leicester Lions, where he was signed as a player-coach. ^[8] Jon became an invaluable player at the Lions, finishing as the league's top scorer in 2008 with 282 points as the Lions finished 4th. ^[9] Since then he has regularly finished as one of the top kickers in what is now known as National League 2 North becoming the most prolific points scorer in the division of all time as of the end of the 2016–17 season. ^[3] In the summer of 2017 Jon was part of the Leicestershire county side that won the 2017 County Championship Plate with a 39–7 win over Hampshire at Twickenham Stadium. ^{[10] [11]}

Season-by-season playing stats

Club

Season	Club	Competition	Appearances	Tries	Drop Goals	Conversions	Penalties	Total Points
2001–02	Gran Parma	Super 10	?	?	?	?	?	?
		European Challenge Cup	6	0	1	5	12	49
2002–03	Rugby Lions	National Division One	21	2	1	23	26	137
2003–04		National Division Two	25	4	1	21	24	137
		Powergen Cup	2	1	1	5	1	21
2004–05	Doncaster Knights	National Division Two	20	4	0	3	2	32
		Powergen Cup	2	0	0	1	3	11
2005–06		National Division One	26	3	0	2	7	40
		Powergen National Trophy	1	0	0	0	0	0
2006–07		National Division One	6	1	0	2	0	9
	Leicester Lions	National Division 3 North	10	1	0	24	13	92
2007–08		National Division 3 North	25	5	2	55	47	282
2008–09		National Division 3 North	24	7	0	54	27	224
		EDF Energy Trophy	1	0	0	1	0	2
2009–10		National League 2 North	24	7	1	56	32	246
2010–11		National League 2 North	29	5	0	69	40	283
2011–12		National League 2 North	25	1	0	22	22	115
2012–13		National League 2 North	24	0	0	46	35	197
2013–14		National League 2 North	24	0	0	59	34	220
2014–15		National League 2 North	16	2	0	34	9	105
2015–16		National League 2 North	21	1	0	15	5	50
2016–17		National League 2 North	28	2	0	41	16	140
2017-18		National League 2 North	27	0	0	36	12	108

^{[12] [1]}

County/Representative

Season	Side	Competition	Appearances	Tries	Drop Goals	Conversions	Penalties	Total Points
2016–17	Leicestershire	County Championship Plate	3 [a 1]	0	5	0	0	10

1. May have appeared in all 4 games but press coverage of county championships very poor so not clear.

Honours and records

National League 2 North

• Division 4 (North) all-time top point scorer (1,814 points) ^[3]

Doncaster Knights

• National Division Two champions: 2004–05

Leicester Lions

• National League 2 North top points scorer: 2007–08 (282 points)

Leicestershire

• County Championship Plate winners: 2017

References

1. "Jon Boden Player Profile". EPCR. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
2. "Leicester Lions History". Leicester Lions RFC. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
3. "National Two North All time leading scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 5 May 2018.
4. "Boden to make Lions bow". Coventry Telegraph. 4 October 2003.
5. "Leagues 2002/03". Moseley Rugby club. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
6. "Defeat seals Lions' demise". Coventry Telegraph. 12 April 2004.
7. "CASTLE PARK MEN CROWNED KINGS". Doncaster Free Press. 8 April 2005. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
8. "RUGBY: Clash of Lions at first home game". Rugby Advertiser. 6 September 2007. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
9. "National Three North 07/08 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 19 April 2008.
10. "DOMINANT LEICESTERSHIRE CRUISE TO DIVISION TWO FINAL WIN". England Rugby. 28 May 2017.
11. "LEICESTERSHIRE 39 HAMPSHIRE 7". Hampshire RFU. 28 May 2017. Archived from the original on 22 September 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
12. "Jon Boden Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. Retrieved 12 May 2018.

External links

• Leicester Lions RFC
• Rugby Statbunker