Owen Joshua Lewsey
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
(born 30 November 1976) is an English former
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 represented England and the
British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer.
Background and early life
Lewsey was born in
Bromley
Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011.
Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to Welsh parents, but spent most of his childhood in the rural Hertfordshire village of Sarratt and spent his early years at Sarratt Church of England primary school. He subsequently attended
Watford Grammar School for Boys
Go Forward with Preparation
, established = 1884 ( Single-sex)
, type = partially selective academy
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, president =
, head_label = Headmaster
, head = Ian A. Cooksey
, r_head_label =
, ...
and then attended the
University of Bristol
, mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'')
, established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter
, type ...
on a
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
bursary, graduating in 1998, and lived in the same hall of residence as three-time Olympian sailor
Iain Percy
Iain Bryden Percy (born 21 March 1976) is an English sailor and double Olympic champion for Great Britain.
Olympics
Percy competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, where he won a gold medal in the Finn class. ; he was able to graduate after obtaining special permission to take his final exams in Australia as he had been selected for England's
1998 "Tour of Hell" in the Southern Hemisphere.
In 2009 he was awarded a Doctor of Laws (LL.D) ''
honoris causa
An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...
'' by the university.
Military
Lewsey graduated from the
Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS or RMA Sandhurst), commonly known simply as Sandhurst, is one of several military academies of the United Kingdom and is the British Army's initial officer training centre. It is located in the town of ...
in 2001 and was commissioned as a troop commander into the
Royal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
.
However, after two years of combining the Army and a professional rugby career, he found that doing both became impossible, and he resigned his commission.
Rugby career
While at school he played for the
Amersham and Chiltern Rugby Football Club
Amersham and Chiltern RFC are an English rugby union team located in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, England. Founded as Chiltern RFC in 1924, the club would be renamed as Amersham and Chiltern RFC in 1992. They are a member club of the Buckinghamsh ...
and also
Fullerians RFC as a pupil of Watford Grammar Boys’ Grammar School. He first played for
Wasps
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...
at eighteen in their Colts side, before being selected for their senior team. In that season he made his first appearance for England, in the U19s against Italy.
During his time at university, Lewsey combined his studies with playing professionally for
Bristol RFC. He then rejoined
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 ...
at the age of twenty one after completing his degree. He won his first full England caps in 1998 against New Zealand and then South Africa.
In the following years, he was a member of the successful Wasps side that won 12 trophies, starting with the Tetley's Bitter Cup in 1999, in the final of which he scored a try. The following year Wasps retained the cup, and in the 2000 final he again scored a try this time against Northampton, having spent the morning at Sandhurst with his platoon on routine room inspection, block cleaning and parade drill.
Amongst his 12 trophies at Wasps were four
Premiership titles in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008. Lewsey played in all four finals, and scored two tries in the 2003 final and one in the 2008 final. He also played in the victorious 2004 and 2007 Heineken Cup finals.
After a good run of form with the national team, he scored 11 tries at the 2007
Middlesex 7s The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 Th ...
to help Wasps win their first
Middlesex 7s The Middlesex Sevens was a Rugby Sevens tournament held annually at Twickenham stadium in London, England until 2011. It was first held in 1926, and started by Dr J.A. Russell-Cargill, a London-based Scot.Bath, ''Scotland Rugby Miscellany'', p82 Th ...
title since 1993. He became the tournament's top try and points scorer.
On 5 April 2009, Lewsey announced that he would retire from Rugby at the end of the 2008/09 season. That year with Wasps he won Player of the Year, but was not selected for the 2009 British & Irish Lions team for the tour to South Africa.
International
Lewsey appeared for England in all three tests in the 2001 North American tour, and was a member of the
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 ...
side that won the
Hong Kong Sevens
The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...
in 2002. He also represented England in
sevens at the
2002 Commonwealth Games
The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...
, opting to play in the tournament over touring Argentina with the National team.
Lewsey made his England home debut in the
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...
in 2003 after an injury to
Jason Robinson. He scored twice in a 40–5 win over Italy. He followed this with the opening try in his next game against Scotland, and was part of the Grand Slam winning side. He had a key part in the tests against
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
on the June 2003 Southern-hemisphere tour. By then he was first-choice
full-back,
Jason Robinson having moved to
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
. He was a part of the
2003 World Cup winning squad, and scored five tries in the 111–13 defeat of
Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
.
He was selected for the
2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. He made an ideal start scoring two tries in the first five minutes against
Bay of Plenty
The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
. Lewsey was widely viewed as a standout player for the Lions, despite the team's poor results. Lewsey continued to be an integral part of the England team at the 2006 Six Nations.
Lewsey featured heavily in England's campaign to retain the Rugby World Cup in 2007, playing in every game en route to the final. He scored the only try against France in the 14–9 victory which put England into the last two. However, just before half-time in the same match he picked up a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the final. That semi final was to be his last game for England.
England's coach
Brian Ashton did not select Lewsey for the England squad to compete in the
2008 Six Nations squad. However, he was called up for
Martin Johnson's England Squad for 2008/2009, but was not selected to play.
On 10 December 2008 Lewsey announced his retirement from international rugby to concentrate on his club career, ending his time in the England set-up, which spanned more than 10 years and claiming 55 caps with 22 tries scored.
Due to his parentage Lewsey also qualified to play for
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...
but chose to represent England as he had received a call-up from them first. His mother is from the
Swansea Valley
The Swansea Valley ( cy, Cwm Tawe) is one of the South Wales Valleys. It is the valley from the Brecon Beacons National Park to the sea at Swansea of the River Tawe in Wales. Administration of the area is divided between the City and County of Sw ...
area while his father is half Welsh.
Post playing career
Lewsey pursued interests outside rugby. In 2005 he completed his Postgraduate diploma in Law. He also set up a leadership development and business consultancy, which looked to apply organisational performance lessons from sport and the military, into business.
Lewsey released his autobiography on 5 February 2009 titled ''One Chance: My Life and Rugby''.
In 2009 he joined
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
as a management consultant.
In September 2011, Lewsey joined
Citigroup
Citigroup Inc. or Citi (Style (visual arts), stylized as citi) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services corporation headquartered in New York City. The company was formed by the merger of banking ...
Global Markets Ltd. as an equities sales trader. After a year in the role he undertook a review of the division's structural trading model, and was subsequently offered the role of Head of Business Advisory Services,
EMEA
EMEA is a shorthand designation meaning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The acronym is used by institutions and governments, as well as in marketing and business when referring to this region: it is a shorthand way of referencing the two ...
.
In 2017, Lewsey joined Ernst Young as People Advisory Services Leader in Asia-Pacific. However, he struggled to find new businesses at EY and moved multiple teams, eventually leaving in 2021.
In 2021 he established Teneo Value+ as CEO, following his departure from EY.
Rugby administrator
In March 2013 having spent several years outside the world of sport, he took up a six-month position as Interim CEO at the
Cornish Pirates
The Cornish Pirates ( kw, An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn ...
. During his time there, Lewsey pressed the need for the club to "represent its community" and "harness the power of the identity of Cornwall".
On 30 August 2013, Lewsey was appointed Head of Rugby at the
Welsh Rugby Union
The Welsh Rugby Union (WRU; cy, Undeb Rygbi Cymru) is the Sports governing body, governing body of rugby union in the country of Wales, recognised by the sport's international governing body, World Rugby.
The WRU is responsible for the running ...
. After a comprehensive review, Lewsey embarked on a new strategy for the organisation of which a key initiative was support for the grassroots game, establishing School-Club Hubs to safeguard the future of rugby in Wales. By September 2014, the
WRU had 43 schools participating in the scheme. By the second year it had increased to 93, which equated to most secondary schools in Wales. He resigned in November 2015, citing personal reasons which would prevent him from dedicating himself to the position full-time.
Other interests
As an avid climber, in 2006 Lewsey was given the summer off from international rugby and spent time climbing in the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the planet's highest peaks, including the very highest, Mount Everest. Over 100 ...
reaching the base camp of K2. He did not inform his club of the expedition as he was sure they would object.
In 2010 Lewsey and his friend Keith Reesby were unsuccessful in their attempt to climb to the summit of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
via the difficult
North Col __NOTOC__
The North Col (; ) refers to the sharp-edged pass carved by glaciers in the ridge connecting Mount Everest and Changtse in Tibet. It forms the head of the East Rongbuk Glacier.
When climbers attempt to climb Everest via the North ridge ...
route. Both climbers were within 500 feet of the summit when breathing apparatus failure caused them to abandon the ascent. Lewsey admitted afterwards that he had "never felt so scared" as the two climbers attempted to descend from over 8500m without supplementary oxygen.
References
*
External links
Profile & Statisticson
ESPNscrum
ESPNscrum was an online news site based in United Kingdom dedicate to providing the latest news in Rugby union. It provided live minute-by-minute updates on major international and club games and kept an in-depth statistics on every international ...
Wasps profile*
ttp://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1596 Sporting Heroes 1http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=2028 2]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewsey, Josh
1976 births
Living people
Alumni of the University of Bristol
Bristol Bears players
British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England
English people of Welsh descent
English rugby union players
England international rugby union players
Graduates of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst
Wasps RFC players
Members of the Order of the British Empire
People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys
Rugby union players from Bromley
Royal Artillery officers
Rugby union fullbacks
Rugby union wings