Charles Phillip Kent (4 August 1953 – ) played

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 it ...

for Rosslyn Park and

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 ...

. Charles Kent was born in Bridgwater in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and educated at

Blundell's School Blundell's School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school in the English public school tradition, located in Tiverton, Devon. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the t ...

in Tiverton and studied medicine between 1972 and 1975 at Worcester College, Oxford. Kent won four Blues playing for

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

including one as captain in 1974. Kent played his early club rugby at Bridgwater & Albion rugby club, where he was an enthusiastic member until his death, and played at senior level for Rosslyn Park, appearing in the final of the

John Player Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...

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 ...

in 1976 when Park lost 23–14 to

Gosforth Gosforth is a suburb of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It constituted a separate urban district from 1895 until 1974 before officially merging with the city of Newcastle upon Tyne. In 2001, it had a populati ...

. Kent made his England debut against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1977. Kent scored a fine individual try against Scotland but made only four more international appearances before his medical workload saw him drop out of representative rugby. His last England appearance came as a replacement against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

in 1978. Kent, a keen squash player and horseman, collapsed and died suddenly after riding out with a group of friends on Dartmoor.

Sources

Scrum.com, Details of England Players & Officials, Extracted 4 October 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kent, Charles 1953 births 2005 deaths 20th-century English medical doctors Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford England international rugby union players English rugby union players Oxford University RFC players People educated at Blundell's School Rosslyn Park F.C. players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Bridgwater