Ben Cohen (rugby player)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ben Cohen
Full name Ben Christopher Cohen
Date of birth 1978-09-14
Place of birth Northampton, England
Height 1.87 m
Weight 99 kg
Rugby union career
Position Wing
Professional clubs Caps (points)
1996- Northampton Saints 146 (320)
correct as of 14 Sept 2006.
National team(s)    
2000-2006 England 53 (150)
correct as of 14 Sept 2006.

Ben Christopher Cohen MBE (born on the 14 September 1978 in Northampton) is a rugby union footballer who plays wing for Northampton Saints and England. Cohen is the 10th-highest point scorer in England Rugby History and second only to Rory Underwood in the list of all time England try scorers.

Though his surname is typically Jewish, Cohen only has distant Jewish ancestry. “My family’s not Jewish,” he said in an interview on his official website, “but a few generations back they used to be. I think it was my great grandfather that married a non-Jewish girl and broke with tradition.” [1]

Cohen was educated at Kingsthorpe Upper School, Northampton. This was not a rugby playing school and at age 12 he first started playing with Northampton Old Scouts RFC. When he was 17 he joined Northampton Saints and made his first team debut against Treorchy in the 1996/97 season, since then his name has rarely left the team sheet.

In February 2000, Cohen made his England debut against Ireland in the inaugural Six Nations Championship, scoring two tries.

In November 2000, Cohen's father Peter Cohen, and brother of English World Cup winning soccer player George Cohen, was killed in an incident at the Eternity nightclub in Northampton which Peter Cohen managed. He died a month after the assault, from a blood clot in his brain. Three men were found guilty of violent conduct.

In June 2001, Cohen joined the Lions tour to Australia, and although he did not figure in the Tests series he did score twice in the midweek match against New South Wales Country Cockatoos at Coffs Harbour.

During the 2002/3 season he played in all of England's matches, scoring a spectacular try against the All Blacks and put in a try-saving tackle on Ben Blair, he scored twice against the Australians at Twickenham. One of his most memorable tries was scored against Australia in June 2003 as England swept aside the host nation by 25-14, to complete their southern hemisphere tour unbeaten.

In England's successful World Cup campaign he started in all but one of England's matches and the triumph marked a unique family double. His uncle George Cohen played football at right back for England when they won the 1966 World Cup.

In the 2004 Six Nations Cohen was named man of the match against Wales, partly for two striking tries. He was a replacement in two of England's 2004 Autumn internationals and was showing fine form for Northampton Saints by the turn of the year, often as an outside centre.

Cohen did not feature in the 2005 Six Nations Championship. He was not called up even after England's opening three losses.

Cohen endured a difficult time after helping England lift the World Cup. His defensive positioning, which had been suspect throughout his career, was increasingly being targeted by the opposition. He fell out of favour with the selectors and admitted that he had lost his appetite for the game. He was not selected for the 2005 Lions tour to New Zealand.

Strong club form saw him win a try-scoring recall against Australia in November 2005. He stayed among the England setup throughout 2006 and during the Autumn internationals. Cohen missed out on the Elite England squad for the 2007 Six Nations, being overlooked in favour of untested dubutants such as David Strettle. It is considered unlikely that he will win back his place in the England side before the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../b/e/n/Ben_Cohen_%28rugby_player%29_d402.html"
In other languages