Dan Hipkiss

Dan Hipkiss
Full name Daniel Hipkiss
Date of birth (1982-06-04) 4 June 1982
Place of birth Ipswich, England
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) [1]
School Hartismere High School
Uppingham School
University Loughborough University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2001-2011
2011-2013		 Leicester Tigers
Bath Rugby		 130
13		 (150)
(5)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007–2010 England 13 (0)
Correct as of 21 February 2012

Daniel James Hipkiss (born 4 June 1982 in Ipswich[2]) is a retired Rugby Union player who played at Centre for Bath Rugby and Leicester Tigers. Hipkiss has represented England at U16, U17, U18, U21 and England A. His full England début came versus Wales in a World Cup warm up match at Twickenham on 4 August 2007.[2]

He went to school at Uppingham School, where he was captain of the firsts. He was in Farleigh house.

Club career

Having overcome a career-threatening injury to his left knee in November 1999,[2] Hipkiss made his first start for the Tigers' U21s against Leeds on 9 November 2001, scoring a try on his debut. He was called into the first team squad for summer training in 2002 and had his Premiership debut away at Leeds that year.[3] He quickly became a regular member of the successful Tigers 2002–03 U21 team, and captained a Leicester side in the 2006 Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham. He was named Tigers Players' Player of the Year in 2006–07.

2008–09 saw the Tigers feature in two finals – Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership, the latter of which they won.

During the 2009–10 season, Hipkiss suffered an injury midway through the season, but returned to play for Tigers' A-league side in their semi-final against the Saracens' A-league side. He scored a try, and the team won 23–11.[4] He went on to score a further try in the final, where the team won the 'A' league.[5]

He continued his streak of tries when playing as a substitute in the 2009–10 Guinness Premiership final against the senior Saracens side. The Tigers went one point behind four minutes from time, and Hipkiss wriggled through a high tackle from the retiring Glen Jackson to score the winning try, to leave the game at 33–27.[6]

Hipkiss joined Bath on a 2-year contract from the 2011-2012 season[7]

International career

Hipkiss was one of five Leicester players called up for the 2003 IRB U21 World Cup. He was chosen for the England Sevens squad in 2004.

He was selected for England's 2007 World Cup squad and wrote a column for his local newspaper, The Diss Express during the competition.

Upon returning from the World Cup Hipkiss played for Leicester Tigers for the remainder of the season but was left out of the England Squad for the RBS 6 Nations.

On 20 May 2008 he was rewarded with a place in the England Touring Squad to New Zealand. Hipkiss was originally left out of the squad, Martin Johnson's first squad. A serious injury to Danny Cipriani meant that he would miss the tour to New Zealand and Hipkiss replaced him in the squad. This came a few days after Hipkiss played against London Wasps in the Guinness Premiership.

Hipkiss was injured in the Guinness Premiership final, with a fractured cheekbone. As a result of this injury Hipkiss missed the tour to New Zealand, only a few weeks after being called up.[2] Despite this, he was recalled to the England Elite Squad 2008/2009 squad, and started both summer Tests against Argentina. He further played in the 2009 Autumn International against New Zealand, in the centre with former Tigers clubmate Ayoola Erinle.[8] Injury saw him again ruled out of the summer tours, though he was picked for the 2010/11 Saxons squad.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Aviva Premiership Rugby - Bath Rugby". web page. Premier Rugby. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Dan Hipkiss England profile". England Rugby. Retrieved 2009-11-25.
  3. ↑ "Hipkiss happy to hit Tigers ton". Leicester Tigers. 16 February 2010. Retrieved 12 September 2012.
  4. ↑ "Dan Hipkiss returns to seal Leicester Tigers' spot in Guinness A League final". Leicester Mercury. 27 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  5. ↑ "Tigers crowned 'A' league champions". Guinness Premiership website. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  6. ↑ Aylwin, Michael (29 May 2010). "Dan Hipkiss seals Sarries' sorrow and gives season a fantastic finale". London: Guardian.
  7. ↑ http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,3823_6718027,00.html
  8. ↑ Mairs, Gavin (19 November 2009). "England centre Dan Hipkiss fired up for New Zealand clash at Twickenham". London: Daily Telegraph website. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
  9. ↑ "Dan Cole and Ben Youngs win spots in England's Elite Player Squad". Leicester Mercury. 2 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-06.
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