Mark Regan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark 'Ronnie' Regan MBE (born 28 January 1972 in Bristol) is an English rugby union player. He has played as a hooker for Bristol, Bath, Leeds Tykes as well as England and the British Lions.

Regan's England breakthrough came when he succeeded Brian Moore in 1995 for the visit of South Africa to Twickenham in November. Despite being on the losing side, he retained his place for the 1996 and 1997 Five Nations championships.

Selected for the 1997 British Lions, Regan had a notable rivalry with Keith Wood. Although he was kept out of the first and second tests by the Irishman, Regan did play in the final test.

He lost form on his return from Lions duty and lost his England place to new club mate Andy Long and then Richard Cockerill. Even though he played a major role in Bath's Heineken Cup victory over Brive in Bordeaux, the hooker was out of favour with England Coach Clive Woodward.

1999/2000 saw the re-emergence of Regan as a player: he shed over a stone in weight and hit back at critics who believed his line-out throwing was too inconsistent for international level by turning in some impressive performances for Bath. A prominent figure in the clubs late season challenge for the Allied Dunbar Premiership, he was voted the Bath forward of the year.

Regan returned to the international scene as a training squad member and England A player. He returned to the England squad on the tour to South Africa in 2000. He played some of the best rugby of his career and selection for the autumn internationals followed. Phil Greening's knee and hand injuries allowed him to take over as England's number one hooker for the Six Nations Championship; however, Clive Woodward opted for Leicester Tigers Dorian West and Regan was forced to sit on the bench for most of the campaign.

Though he missed out on the Lions tour to Australia during the summer, Regan was selected for England's summer tour. However, hindered by his injury, Regan struggled to find his early season form. He remained part of the England set-up for the 2001-2002 season and again went on tour in the summer to Argentina.

Regan joined Leeds Tykes in August 2002 from Bath and quickly became a central figure at Headingley. He made his debut on the opening day of the 2002-2003 season in a 26-13 win over Leicester Tigers. After moving to Leeds his displays not only saw him become a crowd favourite but also saw a revival in his international career, as he was selected for the England squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

Regan announced his international retirement in 2004 after not being selected for the game against Canada. He left Leeds at the end of the 2004-05 season having helped secure the Tykes' Premiership status, as well as winning a Powergen Cup winners medal. He played 69 times for the Tykes and scored 6 tries. In 2005-6 he was instrumental in helping newly promoted Bristol Rugby (his hometown club) retain their Premiership status. He came out of international retirement in 2007 and was impressive in England's otherwise lacklustre tour of South Africa. Consequently he was named in the England squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He was also named in the England squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship alongside Leicesters George Chuter and Baths Lee Mears.

After England beat France 24-13 in Paris in the 2008 Six Nations Championship, Regan was described by French coach Marc Lièvremont as a 'grotesque clown'.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• England profile
• Leeds profile
• Profile at Bristol Rugby
• Profile at scrum.com
• Mark Regan photo by sportingheroes.net