Rory Underwood

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Rory Underwood
Birth nameRory Underwood
Date of birth (1963-06-19) 19 June 1963 (age 60)
Place of birthMiddlesbrough, England
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight13 st 8 lb (86 kg)
SchoolBarnard Castle School
Notable relative(s)Tony Underwood (brother)
Occupation(s)RAF aviator, management consultant
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1983–1997 Leicester Tigers 236 (670)
1997–1998 Bedford Blues ()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1984–1996 England 85 (210)
1989–1993 British and Irish Lions 6 (5)

Rory Underwood, MBE, DL (born 19 June 1963)[1] is an English former rugby union player. He is England's record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996.[2] Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games for Leicester Tigers between 1983 and 1997, he also played for Middlesbrough, Bedford Blues and the Royal Air Force. Underwood toured with the British and Irish Lions in 1989 and 1993 playing in six tests and scoring one try. In 1992 Underwood played for England alongside his younger brother Tony Underwood, becoming the first brothers to play together for England since 1937.[1]

Playing during the amateur era his profession was as a Royal Air Force pilot.

Early life[edit]

Underwood was born in Middlesbrough, England, of Chinese-English parentage. His father was a Yorkshire engineer who worked in Malaysia where he met and married Underwood's Chinese-Malaysian mother.

Underwood was educated at Barnard Castle School (with fellow rugby international Rob Andrew), followed by initial officer training at RAF College Cranwell.[3]

Underwood's early life was spent in Malaysia. His family moved to Yorkshire in 1976, but his father was posted to Singapore and did not rejoin the family for another three years.[4]

Royal Air Force[edit]

In the Royal Air Force (RAF), Underwood played for the Strike Command and main RAF rugby team. As flying officer he flew with No. 360 Squadron RAF, an electronic countermeasures training squadron, on Canberras at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. He then flew the Canberra TT18 with No. 100 Squadron RAF, also at Wyton.

Underwood took a ground-instruction job in 1995 at RAF Cranwell, becoming a flight lieutenant, while playing for Leicester. He became station flight safety officer, then joined No. 55 Squadron RAF (navigator training, now referred to as a weapon systems officer) on the twin-engined Dominie (British Aerospace 125), and continued in the RAF until 1999, although he could have stayed until 2001.

Rugby[edit]

Having first played as a youngster at Middlesbrough Rugby Club (with Rob Andrew and Bernie Coyne), Underwood went on to become one of the greatest wings in rugby union. Underwood is the leading try scorer for England in international matches. He first played for England in February 1984 against Ireland at Twickenham. He won 85 England and 6 Lions caps between 1984 and 1996 (then an English record, later surpassed by Jason Leonard – it remained the highest total for an English back, though that has since been overtaken by Jonny Wilkinson), scoring a record 49 tries for England, and 1 for the British Lions, making him one of the leading try scorers of all time.[5] He played for England in the Rugby World Cups of 1987, 1991 and 1995.

Underwood was capable of playing on either right or left wing depending on who was selected on the opposite side. More usually seen on the left wearing shirt number 11, in 1988 he switched to the right (and shirt number 14) to accommodate Chris Oti: in 1990 on the right opposite Mark Bailey, but on the left when partnering Simon Halliday, continuing on the left in 1991 opposite Nigel Heslop: in the 1991 World Cup he played on the right in partnership with Oti early on, then on the left in partnership with Heslop until the quarter-final and Halliday for the final two rounds, an arrangement that persisted throughout the 1992 Five Nations championship – which was initially billed as his final season before retirement, Underwood scoring tries in each of the first three matches of the championship, and coming close to scoring against Wales. However, Underwood changed his mind and opted to carry on, initially for the next match against South Africa (their first match since their readmission to international sport), and eventually for several more years – playing mostly now on the left, to accommodate his younger brother, Tony, on the right wing. They were the first brothers to represent England at the same time since 1937:[5] and, in the 1993 match against Scotland, the first pair of brothers to score tries in the same match for England. He has been described as one of the greatest wingers to ever play the game.[citation needed]

Recent career[edit]

Underwood has worked as a management consultant. When leaving the RAF he planned on setting up a company called Teamwork with his friend John Peters. He planned on acquiring a Commercial Pilot Licence.

Underwood set up UPH, a management and teamwork training company, with John Peters and Martyn Helliwell on 20 May 1999. Two years later, he appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[6]

Like John Peters, Underwood is also a motivational speaker. He held a role as a non-executive director on the board of Leicester Tigers F.C, but left this role in November 2020.[7] His new company is called Wingman Ltd.

International tries[edit]

Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result
1  France Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship 3 March 1984 lost
2  Ireland Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Five Nations Championship 30 March 1985 lost
3  Japan Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Rugby World Cup 30 May 1987 won
4  Japan Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Rugby World Cup 30 May 1987 won
5  Ireland Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 19 March 1988 won
6  Ireland Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 19 March 1988 won
7  Ireland Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Millennium Trophy Match 23 April 1988 won
8  Australia Brisbane, Australia Ballymore Stadium Summer Tour 29 May 1988 lost
9  Australia Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Summer Tour 12 June 1988 lost
10  Fiji Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour 16 June 1988 won
11  Fiji Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour 16 June 1988 won
12  Australia Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 5 November 1988 won
13  Australia Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 5 November 1988 won
14  Fiji Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 4 November 1989 won
15  Fiji Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 4 November 1989 won
16  Fiji Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 4 November 1989 won
17  Fiji Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 4 November 1989 won
18  Fiji Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 4 November 1989 won
19  Ireland Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 20 January 1990 won
20  France Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship 3 February 1990 won
21  Wales Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 17 February 1990 won
22  Wales Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 17 February 1990 won
23  Argentina Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 3 November 1990 won
24  Argentina Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 3 November 1990 won
25  Argentina Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 3 November 1990 won
26  Ireland Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Five Nations Championship 2 March 1991 won
27  France Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 16 March 1991 won
28  Fiji Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour 20 July 1991 won
29  Italy Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup 8 October 1991 won
30  United States Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup 11 October 1991 won
31  United States Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup 11 October 1991 won
32  France Paris, France Parc des Princes Rugby World Cup 19 October 1991 won
33  Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Five Nations Championship 18 January 1992 won
34  Ireland Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 1 February 1992 won
35  France Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship 15 February 1992 won
36  Scotland Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 6 March 1993 won
37  New Zealand Wellington, New Zealand Athletic Park British Lions tour to New Zealand 26 June 1993 won
38  Wales Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 19 March 1994 won
39  Romania Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 12 November 1994 won
40  Canada Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 10 December 1994 won
41  Canada Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 10 December 1994 won
42  Wales Cardiff, Wales Cardiff Arms Park Five Nations Championship 18 February 1995 won
43  Wales Cardiff, Wales Cardiff Arms Park Five Nations Championship 18 February 1995 won
44  Italy Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup 31 May 1995 won
45  Western Samoa Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup 4 June 1995 won
46  Western Samoa Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup 4 June 1995 won
47  New Zealand Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Stadium Rugby World Cup 18 June 1995 lost
48  New Zealand Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Stadium Rugby World Cup 18 June 1995 lost
49  Western Samoa Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals 16 December 1995 won
50  Wales Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship 3 February 1996 won

Personal life[edit]

Underwood's wife was an air traffic controller in the RAF. He has two daughters. He has two younger brothers, Gary and Tony, and also has a sister, Wendy. His brother Tony Underwood became a commercial pilot after retiring and also played rugby for England and has two daughters.

Underwood's long-lasting relationship with the RAF was put under strain when his wife was unfairly dismissed from the RAF for being pregnant, for which she received an undisclosed sum after settling out of court in 1995.[8][9]

Underwood lives in a small village near Grantham in Lincolnshire, having lived in the area for many years whilst at Cranwell. He has often been invited to be a local dignitary, or to play for local charity sports matches.[10] He is President of the Grantham National Malaya and Borneo Veterans Association.[11]

Publications[edit]

  • Flying Wing – An Autobiography by Rory Underwood, 1992, ISBN 0-09-175074-1

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "ESPN profile". ESPN. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  2. ^ "England try scorers". ESPN. Retrieved 29 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Air Cadets - Famous cadets". Archived from the original on 11 October 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
  4. ^ Smith, Giles (28 February 1995). "Here's to you, Mrs Underwood". The Independent. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. ^ a b "Rory Underwood". BBC Sport. 30 September 2003. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  6. ^ "Lily Savage's Blankety Blank". 27 May 2001. ITV. {{cite episode}}: Missing or empty |series= (help)
  7. ^ Bridge, Bobby (12 November 2020). "Rory Underwood leaves Leicester Tigers with immediate effect". LeicestershireLive. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  8. ^ Evans, Michael (22 March 1995). "Player tells of hardship after wife's dismissal". The Times. No. 65221. p. 5. ISSN 0140-0460.
  9. ^ "Underwood deal". The Times. No. 65304. 27 June 1995. p. 10. ISSN 0140-0460.
  10. ^ "Rory opens Grantham Barclays in April 2011". Archived from the original on 24 May 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  11. ^ "Grantham NMBVA". Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2011.

External links[edit]