Nigel John Heslop (born 4 December 1963) 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 ...

and professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for

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 ...

, and at club level for Orrell R.U.F.C. (two spells), and

Liverpool St Helens F.C. Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an England, English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St. Helens RUFC. The institution is not to be confused with either Liverpool F.C. (playing association football) or ...

as a

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 ...

, and club level rugby league (RL) for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

( Heritage № 1004), at the time of his move to Oldham, he was employed by

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

. There were also rumours of Nigel being employed as a waiter in the notorious hooters bar in the US shortly after retirement, although this has never been confirmed his wife was seen leaving the premises and upon interview told reporters she was ″extremely proud of Nige and will support him anywhere his heart takes him″.

Background

Nigel Heslop was born in West

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

, England.

International honours

Nigel Heslop represented

on ten occasions between 1990-1992, playing in two of the matches of the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including a very physical encounter with France. He was a member of England's 1991 5 Nations Grand Slam winning side, scoring a try against the Scots at Twickenham in the Calcutta Cup match of that year. He was surprisingly dropped for the first two matches of the World Cup, in favour of Chris Oti: marked his return with a try in the third and final group-stage match against the USA: but emerged from the quarter-final against France considerably battered and bruised. Although he completed the match he was not judged fit to start in either the semi-final or final, and with Oti also injured, Heslop's place on the wing was taken by the squad's utility-back replacement, Simon Halliday - who more usually played centre. Heslop took a place on the bench for both matches but was not called on to play. England kept the World Cup Final back line in place throughout the 1992 season, keeping Heslop on the bench: his final international appearance was in the last match of that season, coming on as a replacement for Carling in the final few minutes. Thus the match, and his career, finished with the brief and incongruous situation of Heslop (a specialist winger) playing in the centre, while Halliday (a specialist centre) played on the wing in Heslop's usual position. Heslop subsequently switched codes to play Rugby League for Oldham, bringing an end to his chances of international selection for the Rugby Union team. He returned to Rugby Union - and his old club Orrell RFC - in 1995, but did not challenge for international selection again.

References

External links

* * (archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk
* (archived by archive.is
Statistics at statbunker.comSearch for "Nigel Heslop" at bbc.co.uk
1963 births Living people English rugby union players English rugby league players England international rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players Liverpool St Helens F.C. players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Orrell R.U.F.C. players Rugby league players from County Durham Rugby union players from Hartlepool {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub