Mark Hopley (born in Crewe,

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 ...

) was a

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 it ...

player for

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the Guinness Premiership. He played as a flanker and started his playing career at Whitchurch Rugby Club in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

. Like his fellow Northampton team mate

Ben Foden Benjamin James Foden (born 22 July 1985) is an English rugby union player who plays for Rugby United New York (RUNY) in Major League Rugby (MLR). A fullback or scrum-half, he won 34 caps for England between 2009 and 2013. He also plays as a W ...

, he was educated at Bishop Heber High School in

Malpas, Cheshire Malpas is an ancient market town and a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. Malpas is now referred to as a village after losing its town status. It lies near the bor ...

. He is tall and weighs He made his debut for Northampton Saints in 2005 against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

but really started to shine in the 2007/8 season where he dominated the number 8 shirt. He made 21 appearances and scored 3 tries. He is now the Saints Academy coach, working alongside the other coaches in developing local talent.

References

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External links

Guinness Premiership profileNorthampton Saints ProfileWhitchurch Rugby Club

1984 births Living people English rugby union players Northampton Saints players Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. players Rugby union players from Crewe {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub