Chandler Cunningham-South (born 18 March 2003) is an English professional

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 who plays as a flanker for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

club Harlequins and the England national team.

Early life

Cunningham-South was born in

Sidcup Sidcup is an area of south-east London, England, primarily in the London Borough of Bexley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, bordering the London Boroughs of London Borough of Bromley, Bromley and Royal Borough of Greenwich, Greenwich. Before ...

and at the age of four his family emigrated to New Zealand. His family have a farm holding in

Wellsford Wellsford (Māori: ''Whakapirau'') is a town on the Northland Peninsula in the northern North Island of New Zealand. It is the northernmost major settlement in the Auckland Region, and is 77 kilometres northwest of the Auckland CBD. Wellsford i ...

, north of Auckland. His father, Richard, once coached him for Silverdale RFC. He did most of his ground work at

Hamilton Boys' High School Hamilton Boys' High School is a boys' secondary school in Hamilton, New Zealand and is the largest secondary school in the Waikato region. The school was established as Hamilton High School in 1911 but was later split into separate boys' and gir ...

and attended

Westlake Boys High School Westlake Boys High School is a state secondary school for boys located in Forrest Hill, Auckland, New Zealand. The school opened in 1962, when Westlake High School (opened 1958) split into Westlake Girls High School on the existing site and We ...

. Cunningham-South played for the North Harbour under-18s, Canterbury under-19s and Lincoln University in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, and trained with NZ Warriors in

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

Club career

In February 2022 Cunningham-South joined the

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

academy. He made his senior club debut in May 2022 and went on to make nineteen Premiership appearances during the 2022–2023 season, scoring three tries. In the summer of 2023 London Irish encountered financial issues and in June 2023 it was confirmed that Cunningham-South would leave for Harlequins. In April 2024, he put in a standout performance in Harlequins 42-41 defeat of Bordeaux Bègles. It was only the second time overall and the first time away that the club had won a knockout stage game in the European Champions Cup reaching the semi finals for the first time. In May 2024, he was nominated for the Premiership Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Season Award.

International career

Cunningham-South represented

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...

during the 2022 Under-20 Six Nations. The following year saw him score a try in the opening round of the 2023 tournament victory over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He was a member of the squad that recorded a fourth place finish at the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship and scored a try in the semi-final defeat against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Cunningham-South received his first call-up to the senior

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

squad for the

2024 Six Nations Championship The 2024 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was a rugby union competition that took place in February and March 2024, and featured the men's national teams of England national rugby union tea ...

. On 3 February 2024 he made his

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

debut coming off the bench as a second-half replacement for

Sam Underhill Sam Underhill (born 22 July 1996) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a flanker for Bath and the England national team. Club career At the age of just 17, Underhill made his debut for Gloucester in the Anglo-Welsh Cup ...

in the opening round of the tournament against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

. He made his first test start against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

on 22 June 2024, and scored the opening try in a 52-17 win.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham-South, Chandler 2003 births Living people British people of New Zealand descent English rugby union players England international rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players London Irish players Lincoln University (New Zealand) alumni People from Sidcup Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from the Auckland Region Rugby union players from the London Borough of Bexley