Kyle Eastmond

Kyle Eastmond

Personal information
Full name	Kyle Ovid Eastmond
Born	(1989-07-17) 17 July 1989 (age 35) [1] Oldham, Greater Manchester, England
Height	5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight	14 st 13 lb (95 kg) [2]
Playing information
Rugby league
Position	Scrum-half, Stand-off, Centre, Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–11 St Helens 74 39 137 3 433 2021 Leeds Rhinos 2 0 0 0 0 Total 76 39 137 3 433 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2009 England 4 1 0 0 4
Rugby union
Position	Centre, Fullback
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2011–16 Bath 98 16 0 0 80 2016–18 Wasps 23 4 0 0 20 2018–20 Leicester Tigers 31 3 0 0 15 Total 152 23 0 0 115 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2013–14 England 6 1 0 0 5
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2025– Halifax Panthers 0 0 0 0
Source: [3] [4] As of 25 October 2024
Education	the Radclyffe School
Relatives	Craig Eastmond (cousin) Miles Greenwood (cousin)

Kyle Ovid Eastmond (born 17 July 1989) ^[5] is a former dual-code rugby international, who played for St Helens, Bath Rugby and Leicester Tigers. He also played for England on multiple occasions in both codes. He is the current head coach of Halifax Panthers in the RFL Championship.

Eastmond played rugby union for Bath, Wasps and the Leicester Tigers in Premiership Rugby and England at international level. Prior to 2011 he played rugby league for St Helens in the Super League, and played for England at international level.

Early life

Kyle attended the Parish Church CEVA School, Oldham and the Radclyffe School, Oldham. ^[6]

Eastmond is the cousin of former professional rugby league footballer; Miles Greenwood. ^[7] Kyle is also related to Sutton United's Craig Eastmond, who is his cousin. He has supported Manchester United since childhood.

Rugby League career

Early career

During high school Eastmond began his rugby career playing rugby league for Oldham St Annes but in 2007, Eastmond was promoted to training with the St Helens first team squad.

Eastmond had been compared to Australian international Scott Prince, because of his darting runs to the line and a good kicking game. He has also got a keen eye for a gap in the defensive line.

2008-09

In 2008, he was given the number 24 jersey and made a spectacular early impression in the traditional Good Friday fixture with Wigan, scoring a late try and a goal. ^[8] He made 13 appearances in this season scoring 6 tries. He was then compared to Jason Robinson for his general attributes, and with his size finds it easy to duck under any oncoming opposition which helped him make 778m.

Eastmond playing for Saints against the Wigan Warriors

In 2009, Eastmond became an influential player for the St Helens side. He may have played one less game than in 2008, but he scored 8 tries, 30 goals (18 more than the previous year), seven try assists, he gained 899m and made more clean breaks.

Eastmond capped off an impressive year in 2009 by scoring all of Saints' 10 points in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by Leeds at Old Trafford. ^{[9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]}

He was then selected for England in the 2009 Four Nations tournament and made his international début against Wales in a warm-up game. In December 2009, Eastmond signed a new two-year contract with St Helens that ended at the end of the 2011 Super League season.

2010-11

After Sean Long left St. Helens to join Hull F.C. at the end of the 2009 season, Kyle became the new number 7 for Saints. He started the year very well before injuries hit him for the 2nd half of the season. Despite this, he still managed to make 19 appearances, scoring 15 tries, 63 goal kicks (while missing 18) and making two drop goals. He made a total of 1615m. He repeatedly aggravated past injuries forcing him to miss the Grand Final defeat by Wigan. Matty Smith, now of Wigan, returned from his loan spell at Salford for the play-offs and featured in the final.

In early 2011 Eastmond was linked with a move to Rugby Union. He put these rumours on hold when he started the season with Saints. However, he performed poorly and frustrated fans. On 28 February 2011 both the Saints, and coach Royce Simmons, confirmed he was to leave Saints to join Bath Rugby. After the announcement, Eastmond promised to be 100% committed to his current club for the rest of the season. ^[22] Commenting on the move, Bath Director of Rugby Sir Ian McGeechan said he envisions Eastmond playing at centre.

On 16 March 2011 it was announced on the St. Helens website that he had been suspended by the club pending an investigation into serious misconduct. The club followed this up by saying that no further comments were to be made until the completion of the investigation. It was later confirmed by the club that he had made an inappropriate gesture to his home fans, and it was unlikely he would ever play in the ‘Red V’ again, especially after the emergence of scrum-half sensation Jonny Lomax, and stand-off Lee Gaskell. He was dropped to the under-18s team but after injuries struck Saints, Eastmond was called on to fill in. He had to play under difficult circumstances, with Saints fans booing him with every touch of the ball. Despite this, he made a decent return. In July 2011 he successfully made the switch from the halfbacks to fullback, scoring two tries against Wakefield Trinity on 9 July. After that, Eastmond regained his confidence and was playing in a similar way to the 2008-09 seasons. He managed 15 appearances and scored five tries, but his workload was reduced to just four goal kicks (three missed kicks), due to Jamie Foster replacing him as the club's kicker.

Eastmond playing for Bath, being tackled by Matthew Tait of the Leicester Tigers

Leeds Rhinos

On 3 March 2021 it was reported that he had signed for Leeds in the Super League, ^[23] however, on 17 May he announced his immediate retirement from rugby having played only two games for his new club.

Rugby Union career

Domestic

Bath

Eastmond joined Bath, when he moved in October 2011, after his contract finished at Saints. At Bath he played well and picked up Rugby Union quickly meaning that in 2013, Eastmond was selected to play for the England Saxons. During the 13/14 season, Eastmond formed a crucial partnership with George Ford, which led to Baths resurgence to the top of Aviva Premiership, he would then get selected for the main England side in the 2014 Autumn internationals but missed out on selection to England's World Cup squad to then Bath Club colleague Sam Burgess.

Wasps

After a poor season by the whole team after the World Cup he left Bath to join Wasps who were emerging as top team and had bought a new stadium in the Ricoh Arena, Coventry. His period with Wasps was blighted by injury, and resultantly playing second-choice often from the bench to other more reliable players.

Leicester

On 1 August 2018 Leicester Tigers announced the signing of Eastmond. ^[24] He left ahead of the 2020–21 season. ^[25]

International

England

Eastmond was selected in the England squad to tour America in the summer of 2013. He played his first game in the uncapped match against Barbarians on 26 May 2013, scoring a try shortly after coming off the bench as a replacement. ^[26]

He won his first England cap as a replacement in the first test against Argentina. ^[27]

Eastmond made his first start for England on 15 June 2013, replacing Lions call-up Billy Twelvetrees. He scored a try in the 51-26 victory over Argentina. ^[28]

Coaching career

Halifax Panthers

On 25 October 2024 he was announced as the new head coach of Halifax Panthers ^{[29] [30]}

References

1. Kyle Eastmond, saintsrlfc.com, retrieved 17 August 2017
2. "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "ESPN profile". ESPN. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
6. Roughyeds in 'state of flux', oldham-chronicle.co.uk, 6 October 2009, archived from the original on 24 July 2011, retrieved 20 October 2009
7. "Rugby league: Fax is Miles better for me: Greenwood". Halifax Courier. 15 August 2008. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
8. Guardian Staff (26 March 2008). "Rugby league: Modest Eastmond on fast track to become new Jason Robinson" . Retrieved 31 January 2020– via www.theguardian.com.
9. "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
10. Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
11. AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
12. AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl . Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
13. Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
14. "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo . 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
15. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
16. "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
17. "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
18. Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
19. "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
20. "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post . 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
21. St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos, news.bbc.co.uk, 10 October 2008, retrieved 20 October 2009
22. "Confirmed: Eastmond to Bath Rugby Union". news.bbc.co.uk. 28 February 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
23. "Kyle Eastmond: Leeds Rhinos sign dual code international on return to rugby league". BBC Sport. 3 March 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
24. "Kyle Eastmond: Leicester sign utility back". BBC. 1 August 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
25. "Leicester Tigers: Manu Tuilagi & Kyle Eastmond leave Premiership club". BBC Sport. 1 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
26. "BBC Sport - England 40-12 Barbarians: Freddie Burns shines in win". Bbc.co.uk. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
27. ChronSport (10 June 2013). "Bath Rugby back Kyle Eastmond earned his first England cap in the 32-3 victory over Argentina". Bath Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
28. Standley, James (15 June 2013). "BBC Sport - Argentina 26-51 England". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
29. Drew Darbyshire (25 October 2024). "Kyle Eastmond completes rugby league return after becoming Championship club's head coach". Love Rugby League.
30. "Dual-code star Eastmond named new Halifax coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 October 2024.

External links

• Wasps profile
• (archived by web.archive.org) Bath profile
• Saints Heritage Society profile