Ollie Chessum

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Ollie Chessum
Ollie Chessum LQ Feb 2024.jpg
Full nameOliver Andrew Chessum
Date of birth (2000-09-06) 6 September 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Boston, England
Height2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
Weight118 kg (260 lb; 18 st 8 lb)
School Carre's Grammar School
Notable relative(s) Lewis Chessum (brother)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Lock, Flanker
Current team Leicester Tigers
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2019–2020 Nottingham 11 (5)
2020– Leicester Tigers 60 (20)
Correct as of 20 October 2024
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2022– England 19 (10)
Correct as of 4 February 2024

Oliver Andrew Chessum (born 6 September 2000) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team. [1] [2]

Contents

Early life

Born to Paddy Chessum and Michelle Bailey (of Bailey Trailers), Ollie Chessum is the eldest of 4 children. Chessum’s younger brother Lewis also plays for Leicester Tigers and England’s U20s. During the COVID-19 Pandemic Chessum worked as a welder in the family business. [3]

Chessum began playing rugby at Carre's Grammar School in Sleaford at the age of 13, before playing club rugby for Sleaford, Newark and Kesteven. [4] He was a member of Leicester Tigers "developing player programme" at 15 but gave up for a year as he found it unenjoyable. [3] A year later he joined Kesteven RFC on the recommendation of his cousin and was selected as captain for England Counties Under-18s. [3] He took part in a 6-week trial back at Leicester, but was injured in the second week and not offered a contract, instead he joined Nottingham. [3]

Career

Chessum joined Nottingham straight from school at 18 and impressed at the club making 11 appearances. [5] In January of 2020 Chessum featured for Leicester in a reserve team game, [3] and then went on to join Leicester Tigers in the summer of 2020. [6] He made his Leicester debut at Kingsholm against Gloucester on 30 August 2020. [7]

On 20 November 2021 he was named as the Leicester Mercury's man of the match for his performance in a 55-7 Premiership Rugby Cup win against Wasps. [8]

Chessum started the 2021-22 Premiership Rugby final, and claimed a crucial loose ball to set up possession before Freddie Burns' 80th minute drop goal which sealed a 15-12 win for Leicester. [9]

Chessum played in 14 from 17 games at the start of the 2021-22 season and his form saw him called up for the England squad for the 2022 Six Nations Championship on 18 January 2022, England coach Eddie Jones compared Chessum to Courtney Lawes, highlighting his lineout skills and his ball-carrying abilities. [10] On 13 February 2022 Chessum made his England debut as a replacement in a 33-0 win over Italy in Rome.

Chessum played the first four games for the England in the 2023 Six Nations Championship, before dislocating his ankle in training ground accident in March 2023. [11] On 7 August 2023, Chessum was named in England's squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. [12] Chessum played in every game at the tournament as England finished 3rd, losing in the semi finals against South Africa but beating Argentina in the bronze medal match. Chessum returned to Leicester and featured in 13 games for the Tigers, he also played 5 times for England in the 2024 Six Nations Championship. He missed the final two matches of the 2023-24 Premiership Rugby season and England's summer tour to New Zealand to under go a scheduled shoulder operation, [3] after compressing his rehab for his ankle injury a decision was taken to not rush the rehab for the shoulder injury too. [3]

Chessum captained Leicester for the first time on 21 September, in a 17-14 win away to Exeter Chiefs in the opening game of the 2024-25 Premiership Rugby season. In October 2024, Chessum was one of the first 17 players to sign a new "Enhanced Elite Player Squad" contract with the RFU. [13]

Career statistics

List of international tries

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
112 February 2023 Twickenham Stadium, London, EnglandFlag of Italy.svg  Italy 12–031–14 2023 Six Nations Championship
27 October 2023 Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, FranceFlag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 5–018–17 2023 Rugby World Cup

as of 7 October 2023 [14]

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References

  1. ↑ "Ollie Chessum profile". ESPN Scrum. ESPN. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  2. ↑ "Ollie Chessum Leicester Tigers profile". Leicester Tigers. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Price, James (June 2024). "Ollie Chessum". Rugby Journal. No. 26. Merthyr Tydfil: Sporting Eric. pp. 131–135.
  4. ↑ "Leicester Tigers player thanks teacher for encouraging him to play rugby instead of football". Lincolnshire Live. 11 September 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  5. ↑ Charlie Morgan (21 January 2022). "Why England new boy Ollie Chessum personifies Leicester rebuild after vital Championship education". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Oliver Chessum to join Leicester Tigers ahead of 2020/21 season". Talking Rugby Union. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "Gloucester v Leicester". Rugby World. 30 August 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
  8. ↑ Ethan Clamp & Bobby Bridge (20 November 2021). "'Immense': Leicester Tigers player ratings from 55-7 thrashing of Wasps". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  9. ↑ "Premiership final: Leicester Tigers 15-12 Saracens - Freddie Burns drop-goal clinches title". BBC Sport. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  10. ↑ Bobby Bridge (18 January 2022). "Ollie Chessum: England Six Nations squad call-up gets Courtney Lawes comparison". Leicester Tigers. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. ↑ Heagney, Liam (24 March 2023). "The post-op update from Leicester on Ollie Chessum's England injury". Rugby Pass. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  12. ↑ "England World Cup squad: Henry Slade & Alex Dombrandt miss out, Joe Marchant & Theo Dan in". BBC Sport. 7 August 2023. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  13. ↑ "England: Steve Borthwick names 17 players to receive new RFU deals". BBC Sport. 25 October 2024. Retrieved 25 October 2024.
  14. ↑ "Profile and Stats". all.rugby. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
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