Pat Sanderson (born 6 September 1977 in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

) is a former

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

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 and a former flanker for

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engla ...

. He is the brother of the former England player

Alex Sanderson Alexander Sanderson (born 7 October 1979 in Chester) is an English former rugby union footballer who played in the back row during the 1990s and 2000s for Saracens and Sale Sharks. He is the brother of Pat Sanderson who also played rugby fo ...

. His early rugby union career blossomed at

Bury Grammar School (The key that opens sacred doors) , established = , type = Independent day schoolGrammar school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Headmaster , head ...

, Littleborough RUFC and then at

Kirkham Grammar School Kirkham Grammar School is a selective, co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1549. Its roots can be traced back to the chantry school attached to St Michael's Church in the 13th century. The sc ...

and included his first international cap for the England 16 Group Schools team. He joined Manchester Sale (now

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

) in 1996 and was capped by England U21s and England A. He moved to Harlequins where he played in the 2001 Powergen Cup final, when Quins lost to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

by 30–27. Sanderson was first capped on England's 1998 southern hemisphere tour as a 20-year-old, facing

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 ...

twice and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and he won another three caps on the 2001 tour to North America, during which he scored a try against the United States. At the end of the 2003–04 season he moved to newly promoted

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 ...

, as captain, he was instrumental in ensuring the Warriors remained in the Premiership. He started every Premiership game last in 2004/5 and Sanderson was nominated for Zurich Player of the Season 2004–05 and the PRA Players’ Player of the Year. This consistency resulted in an

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 ...

recall for the autumn test opener 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 ...

in November 2005. Despite some impressive performances in the 2005 autumn internationals and being made captain for England's tour to Australia in 2006, he fell out of favour with

when Brian Ashton replaced

Andy Robinson Richard Andrew Robinson OBE (born 3 April 1964) is an English rugby union coach and retired player. He was the director of rugby at Bristol until November 2016. He is the former head coach of Scotland and England. From September 2019 to Dec ...

as coach in late 2006 and did not featured since. Sanderson is an established and firm favourite at

– both of the supporters and the club, and is fondly referred to as 'Captain Fantastic'. He has played over 100 top flight games and scored 22 tries for Worcester and has again being named as club captain for the 2008/09 season by Director of Rugby for Worcester

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

. Sanderson was also a high-calibre sevens player, having made his debut back in 1997 in Hong Kong. In 2003–04 he played in six of the IRB World Series rounds including the three wins in South Africa, Hong Kong and London. He also helped England win the prestigious Hong Kong event. In 2002 he was also a member of

’s

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

squad in Manchester. Sanderson is the Chairman of the Professional Rugby Players’ Association and he is well placed to understand the problems players face, particularly with injuries. A fractured shoulder, two damaged knees and prolapsed disc have all kept him out of the game at different stages. Sanderson is also now the players representative of the

This is Rugby This may refer to: * ''This'', the singular proximal demonstrative pronoun Places * This, or ''Thinis'', an ancient city in Upper Egypt * This, Ardennes, a commune in France People with the surname * Hervé This, French culinary chemist Arts ...

campaign, in association with

The Professional Rugby Players' Association The Rugby Players Association (RPA) is a trade union representing athletes who currently play or have played rugby union in England at a professional or semi-professional level. The RPA is the representative body and collective voice of profession ...

Premier Rugby Limited Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

and the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

, to promote the

Core Values Core or cores may refer to: Science and technology * Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages * Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding * Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber * Core, the central ...

of rugby following a spate of disreputable incidents in professional premiership rugby. Sanderson committed his future to

on the eve of the 2007/08 season by agreeing a new two-year deal, which would see him remain at Sixways until 2010. In August 2011, Sanderson was forced to retire from rugby after failing to recover from a shoulder injury.Shoulder injury ends Sanderson's career
/ref>

References

External links

Worcester Warriors Profile
a
Warriors.co.uk

Guinness Premiership Profile
a
GuinnessPremiership.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanderson, Pat 1977 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Chester Sale Sharks players Harlequin F.C. players Worcester Warriors players People educated at Bury Grammar School People educated at Kirkham Grammar School Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights