Ayoola Erinle (born 20 February 1980 in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

) is known for being an

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 affiliat ...

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 was educated at

The Oratory School The Oratory School () is an HMC Co-educational independent Roman Catholic day and boarding school for pupils aged 11–18 located in Woodcote, north-west of Reading. Founded in 1859 by Saint John Henry Newman, The Oratory has historical ties t ...

and at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

, representing both his school's 1st XV and the

King's College Rugby Club The King's College London Rugby Football Club (also referred to as KCLRFC and King's Rugby) represents King's College London in rugby union competitions, notably BUCS and the University of London Union's Gutteridge Cup. King's Rugby Football ...

's 1st XV. He played professional rugby for clubs such as

Wasps RFC Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

and

Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz p ...

, and later worked his way through the ranks to represent England in 2009. In 2013, upon retirement, Erinle returned to education, studying Engineering Physics at

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

where he achieved a First Class master's degree.

Career

A big, strong and a powerful runner, Erinle was one of the biggest centres in the Premiership. He was a member of 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 won 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 ...

, having already represented his country at that level in 2005 and 2006, as well as on 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 ...

on the rugby sevens circuit aged just 19. He gained Sevens honours again in 2008 and was a close challenger for the Premiership top try scorer three years earlier in the 2003-04 Zurich Premiership. Before joining

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

in 2000, Erinle played for local team

Reading RFC Reading R.F.C. is an English rugby union club, which runs a total of 21 sides across Men's, Women's, Girls and Junior rugby. The 1st XV play in Southern Counties North. The club is located in the village of Sonning, on the outskirts of Reading. T ...

. Erinle spent seven years at Wasps and his finishing power brought eleven tries in nineteen appearances for Wasps during the 2004–05 season, while his final total reads 26 tries in 106 games for the club. He helped Wasps win a hat-trick of Premiership titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005, playing in all three finals (2003 and 2004 as a replacement and starting in 2005). He was also a replacement when Wasps won the

2004 Heineken Cup Final The 2004 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2003–04 Heineken Cup, the ninth season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 23 May 2004 at Twickenham Stadium in London. The match was contested by London ...

. In 2007, Erinle joined the

. At the end of his first season at Leicester he faced his former team Wasps in the Premiership final, and Wasps emerged triumphant denying Erinle a fourth title. However the following season Leicester got to the final again and this time defeated

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. Erinle started the final. In 2009 it was announced the Erinle had signed with French team

. On 4 November 2009, he was named in the 22-man England squad to face

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 the

2009 Autumn internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere. The headline event of the series was an attempted ...

. After winning his first cap as a replacement against Australia, Erinle was named in the starting XV for the game against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

. In August 2011 he joined

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 ...

in the Aviva Championship, joining up with Director of Rugby Glenn Delaney for a second spell. In August 2012 he joined

US Carcassonne Union Sportive Carcassonnaise are a French rugby union club based in Carcassonne. US Carcassonne currently compete in the Pro D2 of French rugby. The club was established in 1899. They play in black and yellow colours and at the Stade Albert Dom ...

in the

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

Personal life

During his time at Leicester, Erinle and teammates

George Chuter George Scala Chuter (born 9 July 1976) is an English rugby union ex player who played at Hooker for Leicester Tigers. Biography Chuter was born in Greenwich. He first started playing as a 12-year-old, when he went to Trinity School of John W ...

Dan Hipkiss Daniel James Hipkiss (born 4 June 1982) is a retired rugby union player who won 13 caps for between 2007–10, including the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Hipkiss played 130 times for Leicester Tigers between 2001–11 before moving to B ...

and

Sam Vesty Samuel Brook Vesty (born 26 November 1981) is an English rugby union player and coach. He played utility back (though his preferred position is full back) principally for Leicester Tigers. He has had coaching roles principally at Worcester Warr ...

, performed as a band to raise money for the

Matt Hampson Matthew "Hambo" Hampson (born is an English former rugby union prop who became paralysed from the neck down (C4/5 tetraplegic), after a scrummaging accident when practising with England under-21 squad in March 2005. His condition requires pe ...

Trust. In this band (named "Slo Progress") Erinle was the drummer. In October 2003, Erinle appeared three times as a contestant on British game show ''

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

''.

References

External links

England profile

Wasps profile

Leicester Tigers Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erinle, Ayoola 1980 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagos England international rugby union players English rugby union players Wasps RFC players Leicester Tigers players Biarritz Olympique players Nottingham R.F.C. players Reading R.F.C. players Alumni of King's College London People educated at The Oratory School Nigerian emigrants to the United Kingdom Black British sportspeople Expatriate rugby union players in France British expatriates in France English expatriate rugby union players US Carcassonne players Rugby union centres