Stuart Spruce

Stuart Spruce
Personal information
Born (1971-01-03) 3 January 1971
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight 15 st 2 lb (96 kg)
Playing information
Position fullback
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–96 Widnes ? 61 7 0 258
1996–01 Bradford Bulls 86 46 0 0 184
2002–03 Widnes Vikings 54 22 0 0 88
Total 129 7 0 530
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1992–00 England 3 1 0 0 4
1993–96 Great Britain 6 0 0 0 0

Stuart Spruce (born 3 January 1971) is a retired English rugby league player of the 1990s and early 2000s. He played as a fullback for Widnes Vikings and Bradford Bulls and represented England and Great Britain at international level.

Playing career

Widnes

Stuart Spruce made his debut for Widnes during the 1989-90 season, under coach Doug Laughton. When regular fullback Alan Tait quit for Leeds, Spruce became the permanent fullback.

Bradford Bulls

Spruce played for Bradford Bulls at fullback in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St Helens RLFC. He became known as a good defensive player and an excellent offense. James Lowes, who played with him throughout his time with Bradford, paid this tribute: "Stuart has been one of the best fullbacks of his generation. He is a great talker on the field and a devastating runner."

He played for Bradford until the week before the 2001 Rugby League Challenge Cup final, when he announced his retirement due to injury.

Return to Widnes

Spruce came out of retirement to play for Widnes during their inaugural Super League season in 2002. He made a total of 54 appearances before retiring permanently at the end of the 2003 Super League season.

International honours

Spruce won caps for England while at Widnes in 1992 against Wales and while at Bradford Bulls in 2000 against Russia (sub) and Fiji,[1] and won caps for Great Britain while at Widnes in 1993 against France, and while at Bradford in 1996 against Papua New Guinea, Fiji, and New Zealand (3 matches).[2]

References

  1. ↑ "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2012.

External links


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