Neil Back

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Neil Back
Neil Back, from the cover of his autobiography
Full name	Neil Antony Back
Date of birth	January 16, 1969 (age 37)
Place of birth	Coventry, England
Height	1.77 m
Weight	92 kg
Rugby union career
Position	Openside flanker
Professional clubs		Caps	(points)
1997-2004	Leicester Tigers	130	315
correct as of 13 Sept 2006.
National team(s)
1994-2003 1997,2001,2005	England British and Irish Lions	66 5	(83) (5)
correct as of 13 Sept 2006.
Other Information
Occupation	Rugby union coach
School  attended	Woodlands School, Coventry

Neil Antony Back (born January 16, 1969 in Coventry) is a former international rugby union footballer for England, who also played for Leicester Tigers, and captained both England and Leicester during his career.

During his international career, he gained 66 caps for England, captaining them four times and was part of the 2003 World Cup winning side. He played as an openside flanker. He is married with two daughters.

[edit] Biography

Back was educated at Woodlands School, Coventry, where he played football and cricket before opting for rugby union. He went on to represent England at U18, U21 and 'A' level before making his full England debut against Scotland in 1994. He also played for Nottingham.

Despite impressive performances, he was not selected for England regularly on the basis that he was too small - at only 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) and 14 stone (89 kg). Back's supporters claimed that his low body position helped his tackling, mobility and ability to snaffle the ball on the ground. In fitness tests, he was reputedly one of the fittest members of the England squad, and had an enormous workrate.

His most controversial moment came in Leicester's 1996 Pilkington Cup final defeat against Bath. As the final whistle was blown, Back pushed referee Steve Lander to the ground. Back maintained that he had mistaken Lander for Bath back-row (and future England head coach) Andy Robinson. Back was given a six month ban from the game, but came back fitter and fresher than he had ever been. This led to a surprise call-up to the 1997 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa, where he was a replacement in the decisive Second Test. He subsequently became an important part of Clive Woodward's England team, forming a back-row unit with Richard Hill and Lawrence Dallaglio. He was also one of five Tigers players selected for the 2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Back was a master of controlling the ball at the back of a rolling maul and in 1999 he was Leicester's top try scorer with 16 tries as Tigers often kicked penalties to touch for lineouts near to the opposition's try line, won the subsequent lineout and the pack drove Back over to score.

He scored in Leicester's 2001 Heineken Cup final in which they beat Stade Francais 34-30, and won the lineout which led to Austin Healey's break and Leon Lloyd's winning try.

In 2002 he aroused some controversy amongst Munster and the press when Leicester retained the Heineken Cup. In the final, Tigers were leading Munster 15-9 in the final minutes of the match, and Munster had a scrum in the Leicester 22. With the referee distracted on the other side of the scrum, Back swatted the ball from Munster scrum half Peter Stringer's hands before the put in. Tigers won possession and cleared the ball. The press and Munster fans were up in arms, but Munster's players conceded that gamesmanship was an integral part of the game. Some believe that Stringer should also have been experienced enough to avoid the situation, especially as Lewis Moody had tried but failed to do the same thing at the previous scrum. This overreaction took the shine off a dominant Tigers performance for which they were deserved winners.

He captained England when Martin Johnson was injured. He took over the captaincy of Leicester for the 2003/4 season, but Johnson was reinstated as captain after the coaching coup that saw Dean Richards sacked as coach and replaced by John Wells, and Back given a role as a defence coach.

Back was one of England's outstanding players during the 2003 Rugby World Cup; starting six of the seven games in the tournament, scoring two tries along the way the only fixture he missed was the pool game against Uruguay.

He retired after he was dropped from the England team during the 2004 Six Nations, citing that he wanted to spend more time with his family rather than fight for his place in the side. Known for his competitive nature, he had previously vowed never to retire and was 34 at the time of the World Cup win.

However, he made himself available for the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand and was selected in the squad, his third Lions tour. With the selection, Back became the oldest Lion ever, at age 36. He won his fifth Lions cap in the first test but was then left out of the side for the remaining two tests. This was his last top-flight rugby match.

Back is currently Leicester's defensive coach and is also the coach of academy and reserve team forwards. His first silverware as a coach was the Guinness A-League where Leicester's reserves won in a two legged final against Harlequins reserves.

[edit] External links

• Neil Back's Official Endorsed website
• Sporting heroes Sporting heroes player profile
• Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers player profile
• planet-rugby Planet rugby player profile
• Profile at scrum.com
• Profile at Leicester Tigers