Daniel Richard Cole (born 9 May 1987) is an English professional

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 ...

player who plays as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...

for

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 ...

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

. Between 2010 and 2023, he has played 100 times for internationally, and was capped three times for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. Cole is known for his scrummaging ability. His former coach at Leicester,

Richard Cockerill Richard Cockerill (born 16 December 1970) is an English rugby union coach and former player, he was the national team's interim head coach between Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick. He played as a hooker, spending the majority of his career at L ...

, described him as one of the finest tighthead props in world rugby.

Club career

Cole's first team début came in the October 2007

EDF Energy 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 clubs ...

pool match against

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

. Most of the 2007–08 season was spent on loan to

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pr ...

and it was the beginning of the 2008–09 season before Cole played for the first team again. Cole was involved in most of the games in the first half of the season. In January 2009, Cole was loaned to

Nottingham R.F.C. Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby. The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robi ...

and subsequently returned to Leicester later in the season to feature as a replacement as Tigers beat

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. Whil ...

by a single point in the final of the 2008–09 Premiership. Through injury to Leicester tight-heads

Julian White Julian Martin White MBE (born 14 May 1973) is an English Landowner, best known for his time playing professional rugby union as a prop for Leicester Tigers and England. White was regarded as an aggressive tighthead prop, one of the most powerf ...

and

Martin Castrogiovanni Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

, Cole achieved a run of games during the 2009–10 season which saw him gain notoriety as man-of-the-match against

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

. In February 2010, Cole signed a new contract. The Tigers went on to retain their league title winning the 2009–10 Premiership final 33–27 against

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...

, where Cole again came on as a replacement for Castrogiovanni. In 2013 Cole won his third Premiership title on this occasion starting in the victory over local rivals

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", ...

. Cole won the Outstanding Service Award at the end of the 2016/17 season. Cole started the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat

15-12, with Cole winning his fourth title. On 17 December 2022 Cole made his 300th appearance for Leicester, only the 36th player to achieve the feat, in a 23-16 win against Clermont Auvergne.

International career

England

Cole was a member of the squad that finished third at the

2006 Under 19 Rugby World Championship The 2006 Under 19 Rugby World Championship took place in United Arab Emirates between 4 April and 21 April 2006. Australia won the final over New Zealand 17–13. Pool/standings The IRB setting for this tournament was that the matches were to be ...

and the following year represented the England under-20 team in the

Six Nations Under 20s Championship The Six Nations Under 20s Championship is an international rugby union tournament. It is the under-20s equivalent of the Six Nations Championship. Originally the tournament was in an under-21 format but changed to under-20s in 2008. England ...

. In January 2009 he made his debut for 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 em ...

against and later that year started all three games at the

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 ...

, including the final against Ireland A. Cole was promoted to the Senior Squad for the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

as injury cover for Tigers squadmate

and made his senior England debut as a replacement for David Wilson in England's 30–17 win over in the opening round of the tournament on 6 February 2010. He played in all subsequent games in the 2010 Six Nations, earning his first start against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and scoring his first international try in what was also his first home start against , and began to cement his place as England's first-choice tighthead. Cole was taken on the 2010 summer tour of Australia and played in both matches. Although England lost the first game, Cole put in a strong performance which saw the England scrum gain an unprecedented two penalty tries. The second Test saw England beat Australia 20–21. He was a member of the side that won the 2011 Six Nations Championship missing out on a grand slam with defeat in the final round against Ireland. He was included in the squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South ...

and started in their quarter-final elimination against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Cole won his fiftieth cap in the final round of the

2015 Six Nations Championship The 2015 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2015 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 16th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union tournament. It was contested by ...

against France as England finished runners up in the tournament. He was included in Stuart Lancaster's 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was on ...

and went on to start in all four of their pool games as the hosts failed to reach the knock out phase. Cole was included in new coach Eddie Jones's 31-man squad for the

2016 Six Nations The 2016 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2016 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. It ...

and scored a try in the final game against

as England completed the grand slam. Cole was included in the 2016 tour of Australia; he played in the one-off test against Wales 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 boro ...

, which also saw a debut for Leicester teammate

Ellis Genge Ellis Genge (born 16 February 1995) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears. He made his international debut for in 2016. Genge played 26 times for Bristol in a first spell bet ...

, and started in all three tests in Australia. Cole scored a try in the final test of the series in which England whitewashed the Wallabies for the first time. The following year saw Cole score a try against Italy during the

2017 Six Nations Championship The 2017 Six Nations Championship was the 18th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. The tournament was also known as the RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by The Roya ...

as the team eventually retained their title missing out on a consecutive grand slam with defeat in the final game away to

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

which also brought an end to a record equalling eighteen successive

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

victories. Although Cole was dropped from England's international team at the end of 2018, a resurgence in form saw him re-selected for the

2019 Six Nations Championship The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

. Cole's continued good form saw him chosen for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

, for what would be his third Rugby World Cup. On 26 September 2019, in a World Cup pool match against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, Cole became England's joint-third highest capped player with 91 international appearances. In the World Cup final starter

Kyle Sinckler Kyle Sinckler (born 30 March 1993) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a tighthead prop for Premiership club Bristol Bears and the English national team. He has previously played for Harlequins, Richmond and Ealing Tra ...

was knocked unconscious after two minutes and replaced by Cole for the remainder of the game as England were defeated by

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 coun ...

to finish runners up.

British and Irish Lions

Cole was one of 37 players selected to represent the Lions on their

2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia The 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia was a rugby union tour during June and July 2013. The British & Irish Lions played ten matches - a three-test series against Australia, and matches against the five Australian Super Rugby sides, a ...

and featured in all three Tests as the Lions won their first series for sixteen years. In 2017 Cole was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, he did not make the test team but featured in five non-capped tour games. Overall he played fourteen times for the Lions on the 2013 and 2017 tours winning three caps.

International tries

Honours

England *

Six 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 ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb ...

runner-up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Leicester Tigers * Premiership: 2008-09, 2009-10, 2012-13, 2021-22 * Premiership runner up: 2010-11, 2011-12 *

EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

runner up:

2020-21 The hyphen-minus is the most commonly used type of hyphen, widely used in digital documents. It is the only character that looks like a minus sign or a dash in many character sets such as ASCII or on most keyboards, so it is also used as such. ...

References

External links

*
Leicester Tigers profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Dan 1987 births Living people Bedford Blues players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union players from Leicester Rugby union props