Phil Vickery
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Philip John Vickery MBE (born 14 March 1976) is an English rugby union footballer who plays prop for Gloucester and England, and was part of the England side that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup.
The son of a farmer, Vickery was born in Barnstaple, Devon. Working on his father's cattle farm, he developed strength and became qualified as an artificial inseminator. He is 6 ft 3 in (1.90 m) and weighs 18 st 5 lb (117 kg).
He started with Bude, the Cornish club, then moved to Redruth, from where he first appeared in an England Colts side. He graduated to Gloucester, where he became known as "The Raging Bull".
He made his England debut against Wales aged 21 on 21 February 1998, replacing Darren Garforth. It was the completion of a rapid rise to prominence after only 34 first team games for his club and just 81 days after his England A debut.
He recovered from a neck injury in April 1999 and played in that year’s Rugby World Cup. A shoulder injury however kept him out of the 2000 South Africa tour. Vickery toured Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2001 and played in all three tests.
Vickery was appointed captain of the England squad that toured Argentina in 2002. With many of the top players rested, Vickery led his side to victory against The Pumas in Buenos Aires.
Vickery missed the 2003 Six Nations tournament because of a back injury. but having returned to the team was a rock for England on the road to 2003 World Cup success. He played in all seven games in the tournament and captained the side against Uruguay. He scored his first try in international rugby union when he came off the bench against Samoa in England’s third game of the 2003 World Cup.
He was forced to miss the entire 2002-03 6 Nations Championship after sustaining a back injury in training that needed an operation. A rib injury prevented him from captaining the non capped match against the New Zealand Barbarians in December 2003. Although he took a full part in the 2004 6 Nations, another back operation in May ruled him out of the summer tour to New Zealand and Australia. He returned to rugby union only in late October, 2004.
External links
- Planet-rugby (http://www.planet-rugby.com/stats/players/player_details.phtml/p_r/ENG?playerCode=EVI3&search_text=Phil%20Vickery&navCode=&tm1Code=%&setCode=archive)
- sporting heroes 1 (http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=680)
- sporting heroes 2 (http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1889)