Budge Pountney

Anthony Pountney
Full name Anthony Charles Pountney
Date of birth 13 November 1973
Place of birth Southampton, England
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 97 kg (15 st 4 lb)
School The Kings' School, Winchester
Occupation(s) Director of rugby at Saints
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Flanker
Amateur clubs
Years Club / team
1992-1994 Northampton Saints
correct as of 5 March 2007.
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1994-2003 Northampton Saints 215 (230 from 46 tries)
correct as of 5 March 2007.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1998-2002 Scotland 31 (25 from 5 tries)
correct as of 5 March 2007.
Coaching career
Years Club / team
2003-2005 Northampton Saints
correct as of 5 March 2007.
Rugby union career

Anthony (Budge) Charles Pountney (born 13 November 1973) is the former Director of Rugby at Northampton Saints rugby union club. He formerly played at flanker for Northampton and was part of the side that won the 1999–2000 Heineken Cup. He helped Scotland win the 1999 Five Nations Championship, later captaining the team.

Early life

Pountney was born in Southampton, the son of a farm manager.[1] He was eligible to play rugby for Scotland by virtue of a grandmother born in the Channel Islands; as a dependency of the Crown outside of the United Kingdom, people from the Islands are eligible to represent whichever of the Home Nations they choose.[2]

Playing career

He started his Rugby career playing for the Winchester rugby football club mini rugby sides and from an early age it was evident that he would be a star of the future. He attended Kings' School and Peter Symonds College in Winchester and De Montfort University.

Northampton club rugby

At age 18 he joined Northampton Rugby Union Football Club who were playing in what was then the First Division. His senior debut came in 1994, against Coventry R.F.C..[1] He had played for the England Students and U21s but had never really felt like he fitted in.[3]

He started in the Northampton side that were victorious in the 2000 Heineken Cup Final, defeating Munster at Twickenham.[4] He was club captain from 2001 to 2004.[5] He had broken his nose twice that season, but with the Northampton squad stretched, he had continued to offer himself for selection.[6] He made 215 appearances for Northampton, playing in 104 English Premiership matches.[7]

International career

He received his first cap for Scotland in November 1998, in an autumn international test match against South Africa. He had played a part in all the team's matches when Scotland won the 1999 Five Nations Championship.[2] He was part of the Scotland squad for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, playing in 4 matches.[7] He made a total of 31 capped appearances for Scotland, scoring five tries.[7] In January 2003 he left Murrayfield in frustration for the last time, after speaking his mind very plainly on the problems he saw there.[8]

Coaching career

In 2004, while playing a pre-season friendly match for Northampton, he broke his ankle- an injury which forced him to retire from playing rugby. Late in 2004 he became head coach of Northampton Saints, together with former England fly-half and teammate Paul Grayson.[9] In July 2005 he became Director of Rugby.

After retiring from top class rugby, he has worked as an independent citing officer, reviewing English Rugby Premiership matches.[10] In the summer of 2013 he became Director of Rugby at Bournemouth RFC who were playing in National Division 2 South.[11] The club announced that he was to leave at the end of the 2014 season, citing a change in personal circumstances.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Glover, Tim (14 January 2007). "Budge Pountney: Witness to the break-up of the Sainthood". The Independent.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Reid, Alasdair (19 January 2013). "Budge Pountney: Ten years on, still a man of principle". The Herald (Newsquest). Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Verdier, Nick (29 November 2012). "My Life in Rugby: Budge Pountney – former Northampton and Scotland back row". The Rugby Paper. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Saints secure historic victory". BBC News (BBC). 27 May 2000. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. ↑ "Rugby: Statistics: Club captains". Northampton Saints. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Harris, Norman (4 February 2001). "The immovable Budge". The Observer (Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Scotland: Players & Officials: Budge Pountney". ESPN. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Pountney quits Scotland". BBC News (BBC). 29 January 2003.
  9. ↑ "Pountney born again after the turmoil". The Scotsman (Johnston Press). 8 January 2005. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Sale's Cueto handed two-week ban". BBC News (BBC). 7 April 2009.
  11. ↑ Wadley, Ian (26 June 2013). "Rugby: Lions recruit former Scotland captain Pountney". Bournemouth Daily Echo (Gannett). Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  12. ↑ Mitchell, Andy (26 June 2013). "Rugby: 'Personal circumstances' behind Budge Pountney's Bournemouth exit says chairman Denis Eveleigh". Bournemouth Daily Echo (Gannett). Retrieved 1 March 2015.