Charlie Hodgson

Charlie Hodgson
Full name Charles Christopher Hodgson
Date of birth 12 November 1980
Place of birth Halifax, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 86 kg (13 st 8 lb)[1]
School Bradford Grammar School
University University of Durham
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Fly-half
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2000–11
2011–		 Sale Sharks
Saracens		 228
102		 (2,558)
(671)
correct as of 18 April 2015.
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2001–12
2005		 England
British and Irish Lions		 38 (269)
correct as of 25 October 2011.

Charles Christopher Hodgson (born 12 November 1980) is an English rugby union footballer. He plays fly-half for Saracens, and is the leading Premiership points scorer of all time. Hodgson also played for England, until announcing his international retirement in 2012. Only two English fly-halves have started ten or more Test matches in a row for England; Hodgson holds the record for most consecutive starts: 18 between 2004 and 2006.[2]

Early years

Born on 12 November 1980 in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Hodgson was educated at Bradford Grammar School;[3] the school hosts a rugby tournament for under-12s called the Charlie Hodgson Cup.[4] He was a huge Halifax rugby league fan long before he ever played rugby union. A family friend invited him to Old Brodleians rugby club and his first game was for the opposition, as they were short. He has also played for Old Brodleians, Durham University and Yorkshire.He was first picked for Yorkshire by Keith Dyas.

International

He marked his England début with a record breaking 44-point haul against Romania in November 2001, the most by any England player in a test match, when England won 134–0.

He was selected at centre in the 2003 Six Nations. He played 2 games at centre, only to be demoted to the subs bench for the third match against Italy. It was in this game he picked up a serious injury. He made a return to action during the 2003/04 season, after having been sidelined for eight months with a ruptured cruciate ligament in his left knee.[5] The injury had denied him selection for the 2003 World Cup and another injury kept him out of the 2004 Six Nations. He played at fly-half during the 2004 summer tour to the Southern Hemisphere, for all three internationals against New Zealand and Australia. He was named Man of the Match against Canada in the Autumn of that year.

Hodgson has received criticism for his inconsistent goal kicking, which was partly responsible for England's disappointing performance in the 2005 Six Nations championship.

Hodgson was selected for the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

Whilst playing for England against South Africa on 18 November 2006, Hodgson ruptured the cruciate ligament in his right knee that ensured he would miss the rest of the 2006/07 season. Subsequently he did not appear for England throughout the whole of 2007, missing the 2007 Rugby World Cup through injury, just as he had in 2003.[6] Hodgson made his return to the England squad for the 2008 Six Nations Championship.[7][8] Hodgson was dropped during England's tour of New Zealand in 2008 as he was perceived to have a weak defence.[9]

After two years away from the international side, Hodgson was selected to play for England in May 2010. During his time away from the England set-up, Hodgson had improved his defence enough to impress the new coach, Martin Johnson.[9]

Hodgson was selected for England's June tour of New Zealand. He was selected at fly-half for the first test but was subbed early in the second half because of some defensive errors most notably the missed tackle on centre Ma'a Nonu which lead to a try. He took no further part in the tour. Hodgson's next game for England was against the Barbarians on 29 May 2010 however he was substituted in the first half due to a facial injury. Hodgson was included in Johnson's squad to tour Australia in June 2010, although he did not play in the Tests.[10]

Although not originally in England's squad for the 2010 winter internationals, Hodgson was called up as cover after Wilkinson suffered a shoulder injury.[10] In England's 21–11 defeat to South Africa Hodgson sustained what was thought to be a bruised foot;[11] however, it was later discovered that the suspected bruise was a broken foot. In June 2012, Hodgson announced his retirement from international Rugby.[12]

Club career

Hodgson first played for Sale Sharks against French club Auch in 2000. Sale Sharks is where Hodgson has seen his greatest success in winning the 2005/06 Guinness Premiership in a dominant victory over Leicester Tigers at Twickenham. In the final he contributed 6 penalties, a conversion and a drop a goal.[13] Hodgson has been voted Sale Sharks player of the season three times: 2008, 2009, and 2010.[14]

In an attempt to correct a long-standing shoulder problem, Hodgson underwent surgery in August 2010. Although he missed the start of the 2010/11 season, he recovered to take his place in Sale's team in September.[15] He returned from injury on 2 January 2011, taking part in Sale's 28–22 win against Saracens.[16][17]

Just over a week later, Hodgson signed a three-year contract with Saracens, stating that he wanted a "new challenge". Sale's chief executive, Mick Hogan, paid tribute to Hodgson, saying that "Without doubt, he will be considered one of the greatest players to ever play for Sale Sharks".[18] Towards the end of the seasons, in April, Hodgson scored his 1,000th point at Edgeley Park. He passed the landmark in a match against Gloucester; Hodgson assumed the role of captain for the game and victory helped Sale avoid relegation.[19]

Private life

On 23 June 2007, Hodgson married Daisy Hartley at Bolton Abbey in Yorkshire. The couple have five children.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "RFU Official Site of the RFU, Governing Body of Rugby Union in England". web page. RFU. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  2. ↑ Griffiths, John (27 September 2010). "Two Tests in the same day, the longest tour, England No.10s and South Africa's Highveld record". scrum.com. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  3. ↑ Cleary, Mick (22 December 2007). "Charlie Hodgson wants another England try". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  4. ↑ "From school to country". Bradford Grammar School. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  5. ↑ "Torn ACL".
  6. ↑ "Hodgson & Sheridan out for season". BBC Sport. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  7. ↑ "Vainikolo named in England squad". BBC. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  8. ↑ "England to Fast Track Vainikolo". Sportinglife. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Charlie Hodgson and David Strettle back for England". BBC Sport. 26 May 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "England call up Hodgson for injured Jonny Wilkinson". BBC Sport. 25 October 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  11. ↑ "Croft suffers injury blow". scrum.com. 28 November 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  12. ↑ "Charlie Hodgson and Lee Mears announce England retirement". Retrieved 5 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "Sale 45-20 Leicester". BBC. 27 May 2006. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  14. ↑ "Awards Dinner – The Hall of Fame". Sale Sharks. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  15. ↑ "Hodgson's timely return boosts Sale". scrum.com. 27 September 2010. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  16. ↑ "Anglesea hopes Sale Sharks can find their bite". Manchester Evening News. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  17. ↑ "Sale 28–22 Saracens". BBC Sport. 2 January 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  18. ↑ "Charlie Hodgson to leave Sale Sharks for Saracens". BBC Sport. 10 January 2011. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  19. ↑ "Sale 36–31 Gloucester". BBC Sport. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
  20. ↑ "Bio". CharlieHodgson.com. Retrieved 8 December 2010.

External links