Neil Best (born 3 April 1979 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

) is a 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 ...

footballer, who attended

Wellington College Belfast Wellington College Belfast (better known as Wellington College or WCB) is a co-educational, grammar school located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The most recent principal is David Castles. The school was formed when, in 1989, the all-boys' Ann ...

and played his school rugby there until he left in 1997 after upper sixth. The last professional team he played for was London Scottish and previously played on the Irish national team. He played as a flanker. Best was a relative late comer to rugby, starting his career with

Malone RFC Malone RFC (Malone Rugby Football Club) is a rugby union club based in Belfast, in Northern Ireland. It is currently in the Division 1B of the All-Ireland League. The club is affiliated with the Ulster Branch, itself part of the Irish Rugby ...

.Irish Rugby Football Union �
Neil Best Profile
, retrieved 2 September 2010 He has a BSc in chemical engineering and Msc in polymer engineering. He scored 7 tries for Ulster in 2006 – three in the Heineken Cup and four in the Celtic League. The Times newspaper reported that at the start of 2005 that he was arrested and later cautioned for a drunken assault on a club mate, which almost ended his career, however later in the year he made his Senior international début for Ireland as a replacement v

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 ...

in November 2005. Also in November 2005, he scored his 1st Test try for v

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

. His form for Ulster and during the summer tour to Australia and New Zealand saw Best included in the Ireland squad for the 2006 Autumn Internationals. He was named man of the match in Ireland's 21–6 victory against

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 ...

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. It was announced in February 2008 that Best would join English side

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", ...

at the end of the 2007/2008 season. At the end of 2008, Best was banned from playing rugby for 18 weeks for reckless contact with

James Haskell James Andrew Welbon Haskell (born 2 April 1985) is an English former rugby union player who played for Wasps RFC and Northampton Saints in the Aviva Premiership, and internationally for England. In August 2019 he announced he would become a ...

Best played in the Ireland A squad in the 2008 Churchill Cup, and also played an integral part in the Ireland A team that won the

2009 Churchill Cup The 2009 Churchill Cup took place between June 6 and June 21, 2009, marking the seventh year of the Churchill Cup. For the first time in the tournament's history, all rounds were held in the United States. This was done in an effort to reduce the ...

. In 2010, Neil joined

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

, before retiring in 2015. In 2010 he also had to spend time on a drink driver's rehabilitation course after having been found to be almost twice the legal limit when breathalysed by police after he crashed his Audi A3 on the A512 at Thringstone, in Leicestershire. Best was banned from driving for 17 months and fined £1250. He now coaches Singapore Irish.

References

External links

Northampton Saints profileUlster profileIreland profile
1979 births Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Ulster Rugby players Belfast Harlequins rugby union players Malone RFC players Northampton Saints players Living people Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Belfast Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players People educated at Wellington College Belfast {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub