 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Owen Joshua Lewsey | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 30 November 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bromley, London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 87 kg (13 st 10 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Watford Boys Grammar School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Bristol University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer.
Lewsey was born in Bromley, London to Welsh parents, but spent most of his childhood in the Hertfordshire village of Sarratt and spent his early years at Sarratt Church of England primary school. He subsequently attended Watford Grammar School for Boys [2] and then attended the University of Bristol on a British Army bursary, graduating in 1998, [3] and lived in the same hall of residence as three-time Olympian sailor Iain Percy; he was able to graduate after obtaining special permission to take his final exams in Australia as he had been selected for England's 1998 "Tour of Hell" in the Southern Hemisphere. [4] [5] In 2009 he was awarded a Doctor of Laws (LL.D) honoris causa by the university. [4]
Lewsey graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2001 and was commissioned as a troop commander into the Royal Artillery. [4] [6]
While at school he played for the Amersham and Chiltern Rugby Football Club and also Fullerians RFC as a pupil of Watford Grammar Boys’ Grammar School. He first played for Wasps at eighteen in their Colts side, before being selected for their senior team. In that season he made his first appearance for England, in the U19s against Italy.
During his time at university, Lewsey combined his studies with playing professionally for Bristol RFC. He then rejoined London Wasps at the age of twenty one after completing his degree. He won his first full England caps in 1998 against New Zealand and then South Africa.
In the following years, he was a member of the successful Wasps side that won 12 trophies, starting with the Tetley's Bitter Cup in 1999, in the final of which he scored a try. [7] The following year Wasps retained the cup, and in the 2000 final he again scored a try this time against Northampton, having spent the morning at Sandhurst with his platoon on routine room inspection, block cleaning and parade drill. [8]
Amongst his 12 trophies at Wasps were four Premiership titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. Lewsey played in all four finals, and scored two tries in the 2003 final and one in the 2008 final. [9] [10] [11] [12] He also played in the victorious 2004 and 2007 Heineken Cup finals. [13] [14]
After a good run of form with the national team, he scored 11 tries at the 2007 Middlesex 7s to help Wasps win their first Middlesex 7s title since 1993. He became the tournament's top try and points scorer.[ citation needed ]
On 5 April 2009, Lewsey announced that he would retire from Rugby at the end of the 2008/09 season. That year with Wasps he won Player of the Year,[ citation needed ] but was not selected for the 2009 British & Irish Lions team for the tour to South Africa.
Lewsey appeared for England in all three tests in the 2001 North American tour, and was a member of the England side that won the Hong Kong Sevens in 2002. He also represented England in sevens at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, opting to play in the tournament over touring Argentina with the National team.
Lewsey made his England home debut in the Six Nations Championship in 2003 after an injury to Jason Robinson. He scored twice in a 40–5 win over Italy. He followed this with the opening try in his next game against Scotland, and was part of the Grand Slam winning side. He had a key part in the tests against New Zealand and Australia on the June 2003 Southern-hemisphere tour. By then he was first-choice full-back, Robinson having moved to wing. He was a part of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, and scored five tries in the 111–13 defeat of Uruguay.
He was selected for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. He made an ideal start scoring two tries in the first five minutes against Bay of Plenty. Lewsey was widely viewed as a standout player for the Lions,[ citation needed ] despite the team's poor results. Lewsey continued to be an integral part of the England team at the 2006 Six Nations.[ citation needed ]
Lewsey featured heavily in England's campaign to retain the Rugby World Cup in 2007, playing in every game en route to the final. He scored the only try against France in the 14–9 victory which put England into the last two. However, just before half-time in the same match he picked up a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the final. That semi final was to be his last game for England.
England's coach Brian Ashton did not select Lewsey for the England squad to compete in the 2008 Six Nations squad. However, he was called up for Martin Johnson's England Squad for 2008/2009, but was not selected to play.
On 10 December 2008 Lewsey announced his retirement from international rugby to concentrate on his club career, ending his time in the England set-up, which spanned more than 10 years and claiming 55 caps with 22 tries scored. [15]
Due to his parentage Lewsey also qualified to play for Wales but chose to represent England as he had received a call-up from them first. His mother is from the Swansea Valley area while his father is half Welsh. [16] [17]
Post rugby career, in September 2011, Lewsey joined Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. as CEO. [18]
In March 2013, Lewsey joined the Cornish Pirates as the temporary acting chief executive of the rugby club. [19] [20] Then, during August 2013, Lewsey stepped down from the Penzance, Cornish rugby team and was appointed as the Head of Welsh Rugby as part of the executive board of the WRU in Wales, he replaced Joe Lydon who was in the role since 2008. Lewsey continued the role for 2 years until January 2016 when he stepped down. [21] [22]
Following a few years of working in rugby management, in 2017 Lewsey moved to the business sector and joined Ernst & Young as CEO. [23] Lewsey transferred to Hong Kong, where he became the CEO, as of 2021. [24]
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.
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.
Philip John Vickery MBE DL is a former English rugby union tighthead prop and member of the England squad. He was a member of England's World Cup winning squad in 2003, playing in all seven matches in the tournament, and is a former England captain. Vickery ended his club rugby career at London Wasps, joining the London side in 2006 after eleven years with Gloucester Rugby. Given the nickname "Raging Bull", he played in three Rugby World Cups, including as England captain in the 2007 tournament, and toured Australia and South Africa with the British & Irish Lions. Made his debut for Bolingey Barbarians Sunday 25th Sept 2022 vs Bude vets.
Mark John Cueto is a former English international rugby union player. He played on the wing for Sale Sharks and England. He is currently the third leading try scorer in the Aviva Premiership.
Bristol Bears are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
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.
Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE is a former rugby union player who played at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England.
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.
Dwayne John Peel is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the Wales national rugby union team with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013.
Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce is a former English rugby union player who played at wing or fullback. He previously played for England.
Tom Varndell is an English rugby union player who plays on the wing as a player-coach for Bury St Edmunds. Varndell also has caps for England and England Sevens, as well as having represented other Premiership Rugby sides Bristol Bears and Wasps. He is the second highest try scorer in Premiership Rugby after Chris Ashton.
Danny Cipriani is a retired English professional rugby union player. He most recently played for Premiership Rugby side Bath and previously played for Gloucester, Sale Sharks and Wasps in the Premiership and Melbourne Rebels in Super Rugby. He plays fly-half and fullback. He has also played for England. Since starting in the Wasps academy in 2003, Cipriani has been capped for England 16 times.
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.
Jordan Rhys Williams is a Welsh rugby union footballer who plays for the Dragons. His regular position is at full-back, but he has also played at fly-half and on the wing. He began his career with amateur side New Dock Stars RFC, before being signed by Llanelli RFC and ultimately breaking into the Scarlets regional side. However, he struggled to find playing time with the Scarlets and moved to Bristol in 2016, only to return to Wales with the Dragons two years later. He has also played internationally for Wales at under-16, under-18 and under-20 level, as well as for the Wales Sevens team.
George Edward John Kruis is an English former professional rugby union player. He played lock for Saracens and represented England and the British & Irish Lions. He was almost always used as a jumper in the line-out due to his height and athleticism.
Luke Anthony Cowan-Dickie is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team.
Oliver Jonathan Devoto is an English rugby union player who plays for Chicago Hounds in Major League Rugby. His position is as a utility back primarily at centre.
Ellis Genge is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears and the England national team.
Stu Townsend is a scrum-half playing professional rugby union for Exeter Chiefs in Premiership Rugby.
Josh Caulfield is a professional Rugby Union player. He plays in the second row for the Bristol Bears.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
