Martin Corry

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Martin Corry
Full name Martin Edward Corry
Date of birth 1973-10-12
Place of birth Birmingham, England
Height 1.95 m
Weight 112 kg
Rugby union career
Position Number eight, Flanker, Lock
Professional clubs Caps (points)
1997- Leicester Tigers 148 (70)
correct as of 2nd Jan 2007..
National team(s)    
1997- England
British and Irish Lions
55 (20)
(0)
correct as of 18 Feb 2007.

Martin Edward Corry (born 12 October 1973) in Birmingham is an English rugby union footballer who plays number eight, blindside flanker or lock for Leicester Tigers, England, and has represented the British and Irish Lions.

He was educated at Tunbridge Wells Grammar School and the University of Northumbria and first played rugby union for Tunbridge Wells minis before joining Newcastle Gosforth and later Bristol. He broke his contract at Bristol to move to Leicester Tigers in 1997.

Corry has been one of Leicester’s core forwards for several seasons and an integral part of Leicester Tigers' success over this period.

During his career he has worked his way up the full representative ladder, representing England at Schools, Students, U21 and A level. He made his England debut against Argentina on the 1997 tour there with the main players playing on the 1997 British Lions tour.

Because of his ability to play either at lock, blindside or number 8, he was often selected as a replacement and used as an impact substitute. He did not start many games at Twickenham for a while, but in recent times (2005) he has made somewhat of a renaissance.

In 2001 he was called up to the British and Irish Lions side after the tour had started, due to injury and immediately impressed Graham Henry, the Lions coach. He started the first test in the absence of the injured Neil Back, and replaced the injured Richard Hill in the second before starting the third test in the absence of Hill. He burst into global prominence with startling performances in all three Test matches.

His subsequent international form has been varied; after playing in the delayed Six Nations decider in Dublin in October 2001 Martin missed out on the Autumn internationals but was a bench replacement for the 2002 Six Nations.

He confirmed his selection for Clive Woodward’s Rugby World Cup squad in a highly competitive back row area with a powerful late run in England’s warm-up matches – he was outstanding in the 43-9 defeat of Wales at the Millennium Stadium in late Summer of 2003 and then again in the September defeat of France at Twickenham. He was part of England's 2003 World Cup winning squad chosen ahead of team-mate Graham Rowntree. During the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Martin flew home from Australia for the birth of his first child, a daughter called Eve. He rejoined the squad just days later. He played in England's victory over Uruguay.

In 2005, he was named as England Captain for the Six Nations match against Italy and Scotland, in the absence of Jason Robinson.

In the summer he was selected for his second Lions tour, this time to New Zealand and was made vice-captain for the first test. He went on to captain the team from the 2nd minute onwards as Brian O'Driscoll was injured in the notorious spear tackle incident. However, he was dropped for the final two tests in favour of Ryan Jones.

He was again selected as England's captain for the 2005 autumn internationals and 2006 Six Nations tournament. He continued as captain for the Autumn Internationals of 2006 where England lost to New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. Following these results England Head coach Andy Robinson left his post and was replaced by Brian Ashton. In his first squad selection as England coach Ashton named Corry in the starting line-up for the 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland, though he was replaced as captain by Phil Vickery. Corry remained in the side as the tournament progressed until the final two games of the tournament against France and Wales when he moved to lock.

Martin is a keen supporter of Scarborough FC having first been taken to watch the club as a child, when his grandfather had a house in the town.

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Preceded by
Jason Robinson
English national rugby union captain
2005-07
Succeeded by
Phil Vickery
In other languages