Jack Lavin (born 1992) 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 who is currently at

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

having signed from

Caldy Caldy is a small, affluent village on the Wirral Peninsula, England, south-east of West Kirby. It is part of the West Kirby & Thurstaston Ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral and is in the parliamentary constituency of Wirral West. At the ...

for the 2017–18 season. He plays at

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Inside Centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

and is an excellent points kicker who can also score tries. As well as playing club rugby he has represented

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

in the county championships, finishing as runners up in 2016, as well as being capped by

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

Career

Early career

Growing up in the Wirral, Lavin attended

Calday Grange Grammar School Calday Grange Grammar School (abbreviated to CGGS; also known as Calday Grange, Calday Grammar or simply Calday due to the difference in spelling to the nearby village of Caldy) is a non-denominational, academically selective grammar school, fo ...

in the town of

West Kirby West Kirby is a resort town on the north-west corner of the Wirral Peninsula in Merseyside, England, at the mouth of the River Dee, Wales, River Dee. Within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, to th ...

. While still attending school he played men's senior rugby union with

Hoylake Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of En ...

, featuring prominently for the club during the 2009–10 season when they finished 10th in South Lancs/Cheshire 1 – a northern regional league. His performances for Hoylake saw him come to the attention of two higher ranked clubs in the area –

Birkenhead Park Birkenhead Park is a major public park located in the centre of Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. It was designed by Joseph Paxton and opened on 5 April 1847. It is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in the world. Th ...

and

. After playing several pre-season games with Caldy during the summer of 2010 he decided to sign for Birkenhead Park instead as he felt he was more likely to get first team action as Park were one division below Caldy in

National League 3 North North Premier was a level five league in the English rugby union system, with the fourteen teams drawn from across Northern England. The other leagues at this level were London & South East Premier, Midlands Premier and South West Premier. The ...

. Lavin started the 2010–11 season playing for Birkenhead Park's second team – the Wanderers. After impressing for the Wanderers he made his first team debut on 25 September 2010, scoring 10 points in a 20–11 victory away to Penrith. Several months later he scored his first try for his new club in a 27–24 victory away to

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed its o ...

in a league match. Lavin would go on to feature regularly for Birkenhead Park as they finished in 6th place in National League 3 North. While at Birkenhead Park he was also selected to play for the

under-20 county side. In 2011 Lavin left Birkenhead Park and the Wirral to move to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

where he was studying for a Bachelor of Science (Bsc), Sports and Exercise at

Cardiff Metropolitan University , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

. While at university he also played for the affiliated rugby club,

UWIC , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

, who played in the

Welsh Championship The WRU National Championship (or Admiral Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second tier of professional rugby union in Wales. The league was reformed by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) in 2012. The current National Championship champions ...

(tier 2 of the Welsh domestic league). Lavin was also part of the Cardiff Met side that won the 2013 BUCS Championship, featuring in the starting line-up as his team defeated

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

27–13 in the final held 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 ...

in March. Several months later Lavin would be called up by the

senior county side to be part of the squad for the

2013 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2013 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 113th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

– the first of two county championship he would take part in while still at university.

Caldy

In 2014 upon completing university at Cardiff Met Lavin returned to the Wirral and joined

(who he had almost signed for back in 2010). He made his

National League 2 North National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...

debut for Caldy on 6 September 2014 in what would be a 17–45 defeat away to

Hull Ionians Hull Ionians is a rugby union club in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The first team play in English rugby's National League 2 North, the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their relegation from National League 1 ...

. His debut season with Caldy was slightly underwhelming and despite making 10 league appearances by the spring of 2015 Lavin had decided to leave the club and resign with former club,

, who were playing several divisions below in

North 1 West North 1 West is a rugby union league at the sixth level within the English league system. The league is made up of teams from north west England and the Isle of Man; principally consisting of the English counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater ...

Second spell with Birkenhead Park

Having left half-way through the season Lavin joined a

side chasing promotion in

, making his debut on 31 January 2015 in a 29–12 win away to

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

in a game that saw him score a try in a man of the match performance. In his new surroundings he continued to show great form as Birkenhead Park, playing in every league game as they went on to claim the North 1 West title and promotion to

. He capped a triumphant season by scoring a hat-trick of tries in the final league game, a 43–15 win at home to

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the South Lakeland district of Cumbria, England, south-east of Windermere and north of Lancaster. Historically in Westmorland, it lies within the dale of th ...

. Despite playing in tier 6 of the English league system, Lavin was so impressive that he was once more called up by the

county side to take part in the

2015 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2015 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 115th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

. While he had been a bit part player in previous championships, this time he was the main man in a Cheshire side looking to win the northern pool and qualify for the

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

final. Lavin had an excellent tournament, finishing as the competitions second highest points scorer with 31 points, as Cheshire finished second in their pool behind finalists

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

Back to Caldy

After a successful personal showing at the

with

, Lavin returned to

for another crack at

. He made his first appearance of the campaign on 5 September 2015, kicking 13 points in a 23–11 victory away to Sale. After this starring performance, Lavin would not look back and he went on to make 27 league appearances and contributed 83 points (including 8 tries) to a Caldy side that would finish 5th in the league. He also started the final of the Cheshire Cup in April 2016, as Caldy lost 26–49 to National League 2 champions,

Macclesfield Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east ...

, at Bradwell Road in

Sandbach Sandbach (pronounced ) is the name of a historic market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach itself as the largest, Elworth, Ettiley Heath a ...

. At the end of the 2015–16 season Lavin would take part in his fourth county championships with Cheshire. He had another excellent tournament at the

2016 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2016 Bill Beaumont Cup, also known as Bill Beaumont Cup Division One, was the 116th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organized by the RFU for the top tier English counties. Each county drew its players from ru ...

helping his county to their first final in 14 years, and although they lost 13–35 to a very strong

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

side, Lavin proved to be one of the best players in the competition, with his personal tally of 49 points (including 3 tries) making him the top points scorer. The 2016–17 season was an outstanding one for Lavin who finished top scorer in National League 2 North with 378 points, including 23 tries, in a Caldy side that stormed to the league title and promotion to

– the highest level the club has ever reached. He was also called up for Cheshire for the

2017 Bill Beaumont Cup The 2017 Bill Beaumont County Championship Division 1 was the 117th version of the annual, English rugby union, County Championship organised by the RFU for the top tier English counties. This was the first season it would be officially known ...

but experienced a disappointing championships as his county failed to reach the final after losing 2 of their 3 pool games. The final highlight of an excellent season was Lavin's call up to the

for their tour of Spain. He started the first game of the tour, kicking 12 points as Counties convincingly beat Euskarians 61–19 in

San Sebastián San Sebastian, officially known as Donostia–San Sebastián (names in both local languages: ''Donostia'' () and ''San Sebastián'' ()) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality located in the Basque Country (autonomous community), B ...

. He also featured in the second game against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

, which Counties won 45–28.

National League 1 with Esher

In July 2017, after two successful seasons with

, Lavin signed for

, playing in

. Unfortunately, Lavin suffered a serious (life-threatening) neck injury during pre-season training which ended his season before it began. After two seasons out he is expected to be back playing again at the start of the 2019–20 season.

Season-by-season playing stats

1st 50/22 for Esher RFC vs Redruth 2021/22 season

Club

County/Representative

Honours and records

* BUCS Championship winners: 2013

champions: 2014–15

champions: 2016–17 *

top points scorer: 2016–17 (378 points) Cheshire (Senior Side) *Capped by

senior county side *

County Championship The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...

runners up:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

top points scorer:

(49 points) Cheshire (under-20) *Capped by

under-20 county side

*Selected for tour of

: 2017

Notes

References

External links

Caldy RUFCCheshire RFU
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavin, Jack 1992 births Living people Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union centres English rugby union players Birkenhead Park FC players Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University People educated at Calday Grange Grammar School Cardiff Metropolitan University RFC players Cheshire RFU players