Michael Richard Wade, commonly known as Mike Wade (born 13 September 1937, in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

) 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 its m ...

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who played 166 games for

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

between 1955 and 1967; he represented England 3 times in 1962. He was a Cambridge University blue captaining the side to victory in 1961. Wade made his Tigers debut against

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

on Christmas Eve 1955 as an 18-year-old whilst still at school, playing 3 games in four days during the club's Christmas festival also featuring against Birkenhead Park and the Barbarians. He then dropped out of the side until the end of the season where he played 3 of the final four games. He was captain of the Cambridge University rugby team in their undefeated 1961 season winning 14 games including the Varsity Match. Wade was then capped three times for England in the 1962 Five Nations, making his debut against Wales he also featured against Ireland and France but was dropped for the Calcutta Cup match against Scotland, his clubmate at Leicester Horrocks-Taylor taking his place. Wade was Tigers captain in 1963/64 and again in 1964/65 however he suffered an injury to his knee cartilage in a game against Richmond in November 1965. Effectively forcing him to retire he played only 3 more games for the club in January and February in 1967.

References

1937 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union centres Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players Rugby union players from Leicester People educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub