Alex Brown (rugby union)
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| Full name | Alexander Thomas Brown | ||||||
| Date of birth | 17 May 1979 | ||||||
| Place of birth | Bristol, England | ||||||
| Height | 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) | ||||||
| Weight | 116 kg (18 st 4 lb) [1] | ||||||
| School | Colston's Collegiate School | ||||||
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| Representative teams** | |||||||
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* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only. ** Representative team caps and points correct as of 8 July 2014. | |||||||
Alex Brown (born 17 May 1979 in Bristol) is a former English rugby union player, who played at lock position.
He attended the famous Colston's Collegiate School in Bristol.
He started playing rugby at u7s level for Clifton in 1985 and worked his way through the age levels there
After a brief period with Bath and Pontypool, he joined his home city club Bristol Rugby and was a key player when they won the first Under 21 Zurich Premiership. Under the tutelage of rugby director Dean Ryan, he was voted the club’s player of the year in the 2000–01 season. Brown's father played rugby for Clifton.
Brown signed for Gloucester Rugby in the summer of 2003 rejoining Dean Ryan. The England Saxons international topped the line-out statistics charts during the 2003–04 season and was voted the players’ player of the year.
He played for England Saxons in the first Churchill Cup and was called into the England senior squad for the 2005 Autumn Internationals.[2]
Brown was expected to make his international debut against Australia in November, but he suffered a neck injury and was ruled out of the entire Autumn programme.[3]
He made his senior international debut for England during their 2006 summer tour, in a defeat to Australia.[4]
Brown then played in both tests on the 2007 summer tour, England losing both games to South Africa.[5] He picked up the Gillette Power Award for the 2006–07 season. He is widely regarded as one of the most consistent performers in the Premiership and has signed a three-year contract extension with Gloucester until 2011. After proving himself one of the most consistent lock forwards in the premiership,[6] Brown's contract was extended until 2013. Unfortunately, following an shoulder injury sustained during the first match of the 2012-13 season, Brown was forced to announce his retirement on 20 December 2012 [7]
He currently acts as Rugby Operations Manager at Kingsholm Stadium with Gloucester Rugby.[8]
References
- ↑ "Aviva Premiership Rugby – Gloucester Rugby". web page. Premier Rugby. Retrieved 27 August 2011.
- ↑ "Autumn international squads". Daily Telegraph. 2005-10-25. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ↑ "Brown blow for England". Daily Telegraph. 2005-10-25. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ↑ "Australia 34–3 England". BBC. 2006-06-11. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ↑ "South Africa 58–10 England". BBC. 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ↑ "Alex Brown: Player Biog". Gloucester Rugby. 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
- ↑ "Alex Brown: Gloucester lock forced to retire through injury". BBC. 2012-12-20. Retrieved 2012-12-20.
- ↑ "Alex Brown named as new Rugby Operations Manager at Gloucester". Gloucester Rugby. 23 April 2013.