Phil Dowson (born 1 October 1981) is director of rugby at Northampton Saints. He is a former English

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. He played for

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 ...

, Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. Dowson's position of choice was as a number 8 and he can also operate as a flanker. In 2004 he was a member of Falcons’

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

winning side at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, scoring a try after coming on as a replacement in the final. Dowson made over 130 appearances for the Falcons and captained the side for two seasons. Dowson represented the

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

team at the 2005 World Cup in Hong Kong. He was then selected for the 2005 Churchill Cup. He was called into the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

side that defeated Ireland A on 1 February 2008. Dowson represented

at the

2007 Churchill Cup The 2007 Churchill Cup was held from May 18 to June 2, 2007. It was the fifth year of the Churchill Cup. Six rugby union teams took part: Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, New Zealand Māori, Scotland A, and the USA. Format The teams were s ...

and

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 ...

. Dowson signed for the

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", ...

from the

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 ...

in the summer of 2009. In 2012, Dowson gained his first full international cap for England vs Scotland in the Six Nations. A further cap against Italy as well as substitute appearances against France and Ireland. He was named as England captain for England's next match, although it was a non capped match, against the Barbarians which England went on to win 57–26. In 2014 Dowson played as a replacement as Northampton beat Saracens to win the Premiership. He signed for

having made over 180 appearances for the Saints, in the 2015-16 season in the

. On 20 February 2017, Dowson announces his retirement from professional competition at the end of the season, where he will rejoin with his old club

as an assistant coach. Phil Dowson coached the England XV that faced the Barbarians in June 2019. https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/jun/02/england-barbarians-rugby-match-report Phil Dowson set up a print supply business in 2008. Nth Degree Imaging provides print solutions to the large format and industrial print markets. https://ndi.ltd

References

External links

Northampton profileNewcastle profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowson, Phil 1981 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Newcastle Falcons players Northampton Saints players People educated at Sedbergh School Rugby union number eights Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Guildford Worcester Warriors players