Darren Garforth (born 9 April 1966) is a former international

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who played tighthead prop 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 home ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Garforth was born in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, signed for

and made his Leicester debut against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in 1991. He would go on to make over 300 appearances for the club. Wearing the C shirt, as part of the ABC club with

Graham Rowntree Graham Christopher Rowntree (born 18 April 1971) is an English rugby union former player and former head coach of Irish club Munster. He played loosehead prop for Leicester Tigers and England. He was capped 54 times for England, despite havin ...

(A) and

Richard Cockerill Richard Cockerill (born 16 December 1970) is an English rugby union coach and former player and since January 2024 has been the Head Coach of the Georgian National Rugby Team. Prior to this he was the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier and wa ...

(B). He was an important part of Tigers side which won the English league four times and the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

twice. Garforth made his England debut on 15 March 1997 against

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

. Garforth was eventually dropped from the England side in favour of Phil Vickery, but would continue to make some appearances, his 25th and final cap coming against in 2000. He was offered the chance to tour North America with England in 2001 but turned down the opportunity, which went to Leicester teammate

Ricky Nebbett Ricky Nebbett (born 16 August 1977) is a former professional Rugby Union player whose career spanned 16 years. Nebbett's position of choice was tight headprop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on sta ...

instead. After leaving Leicester in 2003, he moved to second division

Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...

as player-coach. Tigers signed England prop Julian White as a replacement.

References

External links

Leicester TigersPlanet-rugby ''dead''

Sporting heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garforth, Darren 1966 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union props Rugby union players from Coventry Leicester Tigers players England international rugby union players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century English sportsmen