Simon Hodgkinson (born 15 December 1962) is a former international

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 represented England at fullback between 1989 and 1991, gaining 14

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caps.

Career

Hodgkinson made his debut against

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in 1989 and was a main part of the side which completed the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

at the 1991

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

, kicking 60 points in four matches (a world record at the time, but had since been broken by Jonny Wilkinson). He had goal-kicking stats of 80.23% successful place-kicks (penalties and conversions) over his career - an extremely high rate in the years of amateur rugby: and still holds the record for the most penalties converted in a Five Nations/ Six Nations match with the seven he successfully converted in the 25-6 victory over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

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. However, he was primarily a consistent place-kicker and not viewed as much of an attacking threat; after harsh criticism of England's dour forward-based tactics in their 1991 Grand Slam he was replaced by

Jonathan Webb Jonathan Mark Webb (born 24 August 1963 in London, England) is a specialist knee surgeon and former English rugby union fullback. Webb played for the England national team from 1987 to 1993, reaching the 1991 World Cup Final and winning two F ...

, previously considered less consistent with the boot, in both place-kicks and penalties, but was seen to be more adventurous with the ball in hand. Hodgkinson was however in the squad for the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

held in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and France: and played in the victorious team against

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. Hodgkinson scored 203 points in his 14 appearances, with a sole try coming against

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on tour in 1990. Although he might be considered unlucky to have lost his place when he did, injuries curtailed his subsequent career and he was never able to regain a place in the international team. Hodgkinson was later named as the idol of one of the world's best players, Jonny Wilkinson - which was mentioned in his biography ''Jonny''.

Personal life

Simon Hodgkinson married farmer's daughter Fiona Radley (Fiona Hodgkinson) in Southwell Minister on 22 August 1992. Their first child Olivia Honor Hodgkinson was born on 15 November 1994, and their second daughter Anna Victoria Hodgkinson was born on 25 August 1998. Both children attended Wellow House Prep School in Ollerton, Nottinghamshire and at the age of 13 to 18 they both attended Oundle School, Northamptonshire. During his club career, he played for

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

, where he captained for 3 seasons. He retired from being one of the head rugby coaches at

Oundle School Oundle School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for pupils 11–18 situated in the market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire, England. The school has been governed by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City ...

, Northamptonshire along with John Olver in 2017 after 15 years of coaching.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodgkinson, Simon 1962 births Living people Teachers of Oundle School Moseley Rugby Football Club players English rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks England international rugby union players Nottingham R.F.C. players