| Full name | Tobias Gerald Albert Lieven Flood | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 8 August 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Frimley, Surrey, England | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 91 kg (14 st 5 lb) [1] | ||
| School | Chantry School The King's School |
||
| University | Northumbria University | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Fly-half / Centre | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| Alnwick RFC Morpeth RFC |
|||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2004–2008 2008– |
Newcastle Falcons Leicester Tigers |
70 41 |
(258) (517) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 2006- | England | 46 | (223) |
Tobias Gerald Albert Lieven "Toby" Flood[2] (born 8 August 1985) is an English rugby union player. He currently plays at fly half or inside centre for Leicester Tigers, having signed from Newcastle Falcons. He also plays for England.
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Toby was born in Frimley, Surrey and comes from a thespian lineage. Both of his grandfathers were actors. His paternal grandfather, Gerald Flood, featured in the television drama series The Ratcatchers. His maternal grandfather was German actor Albert Lieven, who appeared in The Guns of Navarone,[3] and his maternal grandmother was English actress Susan Shaw.[4] His father, Tim, is the programme and marketing manager of The Customs House South Shields.
Flood was raised in Morpeth, Northumberland where he attended Chantry School. He also went to Kings School in Tynemouth.[5] Flood graduated from Northumbria University in 2007 with a degree in business management,[6] and has also undertaken a Graduate Diploma in Law, in preparation for his planned post-rugby career as a lawyer.[7]
A product of the Falcons academy, his third year at the university was completed on a part-time basis due to his rugby commitments. Jonny Wilkinson trained the Kings School first team while Flood was a student there. On 3 May 2008, it was announced that Flood was set to leave Newcastle Falcons for Leicester Tigers. He was officially confirmed as a Leicester player on 11 June 2008.[8]
As a Tigers player, he settled at fly-half, having been switched between centre and fly-half in his career up until then. He was the first to top their points scoring list in a debut season since Dusty Hare in 1976–77. His debut game was in the first game of the season, against Gloucester, in which he managed to score a try. The shine came off his season, however, when he injured his Achilles in the 2008-09 Heineken Cup semi-final game against Cardiff Blues – right before professional rugby's first ever sudden-death kicking competition.[9] He was unable to take part in either of the Tigers' finals that year.[10]
The injury unfortunately ruled Flood out of the first two months of the 2009–10 season as well, and he returned in November, in a 2009-10 LV= Cup win against Newport Gwent Dragons.[11] He stayed relatively injury-free for the rest of the season, however, and his good form helped the Tigers to top the table. They went on to win the 2009-10 Guinness Premiership final 33–27 against Saracens.[12]
In the Autumn of 2006, he came on twice as a fly-half replacement for England, his first cap coming in the defeat to Argentina. With Brian Ashton installed as the new England head coach, Flood was selected in the Elite squad for England's 2007 Six Nations campaign. Flood came on as a replacement in the game against Scotland to win his fourth England cap. He started his first game for England against France at Twickenham and went on to score a try, helping England to a 26–18 victory. His personal points tally in the match was 16 points. Flood also started in the defeat to Wales.
Ashton included Flood in the Elite squad for 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign of France, as a replacement for then Newcastle team-mate Jamie Noon. He came on as a substitute in the quarter final against Australia, which England won 12–10. Flood also came off the bench in the semi final win over France and in the loss in the world cup final to South Africa.
He scored England's opening try in the 2008 Six Nations game against Wales, and managed another the following game against Italy.
After acting as a replacement in the first two games of the 2009 Six Nations, Flood started the away game against Ireland, and held onto the fly-half shirt for the remaining two wins against France and Scotland. His Achilles injury saw him lose it to former clubmate Jonny Wilkinson for the 2009 Autumn internationals, but he started the first 2010 Six Nations game against Wales at inside centre, due to injury to Riki Flutey.[13] He finished the Six Nations once more in possession of the England 10 shirt during the game against France, and retained it for the Australia summer tour.[14] Although England lost the first game,[15] Flood was able to link up with his club colleague Ben Youngs in a strong half-back pairing in the second. A much improved performance saw England beat Australia 20–21.[16]
Flood's link with Youngs developed over the Autumn Internationals, starting with a good display in a loss to New Zealand. The team peaked in the Test against Australia, in which Flood had an immaculate game with the boot. He scored 25 points, which is the most amount of points recorded by an Englishman against the Wallabies.[17] He also helped England to a victory over Samoa,[18] but was injured early into the last game with South Africa, and later revealed he couldn't remember anything after the incident.[17][19]
In the 2011 Six Nations, Flood and Youngs again combined to great success, Flood gaining man-of-the-match for a strong display against Wales at the Millennium Stadium.[20] He was also a key component in several of the tries scored against Italy, developing a key relationship with wing Chris Ashton.[21]
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