Ben Maidment (born 28 May 1988) is an English

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player from

Cuckfield Cuckfield ( ) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Sussex District, Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeas ...

, West Sussex. He currently plays for

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...

as a Number 8.

Personal life

Maidment was educated at Brighton College and the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, where he studied Economics and Land Economy. His brother Max also plays rugby professionally.

Club career

Maidment started playing rugby at Haywards Heath RFC while living in Sussex. He played in their colts team as well as making the senior 1st XV. He played for Haywards Heath in

National League 3 London & SE Regional 1 South East (up until 2022-23 known as London & South East Premier and up until 2016-17 known as National League 3 London & South East) is a level five league in the English rugby union system. It is one of six leagues at this level. ...

. When he was 16, he was selected to play for Sussex. While playing underage rugby at Haywards Heath he also played for Brighton College. While at university, Maidment was signed by

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

as part of a link-up with the University of Cambridge in 2010. He played for London Wasps in their rugby sevens team and their "A" team. In 2011, after a recommendation from London Wasps, Maidment moved to Moseley Rugby Football Club and made his debut for them in the RFU Championship against

Esher RFC Esher Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based in Surrey, England. Esher currently play in the third division of the English league system; National League 1, following the club's promotion from National League 2 South at the e ...

. In 2011, a day after his graduation from Cambridge, Maidment moved to Cornish Pirates. In 2013, Maidment moved to Jersey along with fellow Cornish Pirates players

Aaron Penberthy According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...

and Grant Pointer. During pre-season, he was sent off against

Coventry R.F.C. Coventry Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club based in Coventry, England. The club enjoyed great success during the 1960s and 70s, with many players representing their countries. Coventry's home ground is the Butts Park Arena, ...

and was banned by the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

for a week. The ban was initially meant to be served during a friendly against French club,

Le Rheu Le Rheu (; br, Reuz) is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Le Rheu are called ''rheusois'' in French. See also *Communes of the Ille-et-Vilaine department The following ...

; however, this match did not go ahead. Jersey failed to inform the RFU and its officials that the ban was not served, and then fielded Maidment in their next match, against

Plymouth Albion Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...

in the RFU Championship. As a result, Maidment and Jersey were charged by the RFU for "failure to act towards the RFU with utmost good faith and/or conduct prejudicial to the interests of the Union and/or the Game". The charge against Maidment was later dropped, but Jersey were fined £5,000 and deducted two RFU Championship points.

Representative career

While at university, Maidment represented Cambridge in The Varsity Match at

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team play ...

against

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. Maidment was also selected to play for England Students. In 2011, Maidment was invited to play for the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

against

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

, a match which the Barbarians won.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maidment, Ben Living people Rugby union number eights Barbarian F.C. players Jersey Reds players Alumni of the University of Cambridge People educated at Brighton College Rugby union players from Cuckfield 1988 births