Lee Mears (born 5 March 1979 in

Torquay Torquay ( ) is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies south of the county town of Exeter and east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paig ...

) is an Executive Leadership Coach. He proudly represented England playing rugby between 2004 and 2013. He earned 42 Cap played in two world cups and played for the British and Irish Lions on the 2009 tour of South Africa. His life of adventure has continued off the field he hold two world records. (Playing rugby at the North Pole and Mount Everest).

Early years

Mears first started playing rugby for the Torquay Athletic mini team. Then after playing at Paignton College, he went to Colston's School and came under the guidance of Andy Robinson and Alan Martinovic. He has played for Devon, and all the England age group teams. In 1997 he was a member of the unbeaten England U18 Schools team that toured Australia. He played in three world cup matches in New Zealand for England U21s.

Senior team

Mears joined the Bath Academy in 1997 after leaving Colston's School. He managed to score on his first XV début in a friendly 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 ...

. Having made 268 Bath appearances over 16 seasons Mears had to retire following medical advice after routine cardiac screening.

International career

Mears was selected for the 2004

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

squad but did not play in any of the games. The next year he helped England win the 2005 Churchill Cup and after being named in the Autumn test squad, he made his test début as a replacement against in November 2005. He came on as a replacement in the

2006 Six Nations Championship The 2006 Six Nations Championship was the seventh series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this ...

games against , and , and earned a start against . In 2007, Mears was selected in the England squad for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. Mears was selected in the starting 15 against in the 2008 Six Nations. This came after several games trying to break into the side from the bench. In June 2012, Mears announced his retirement from international Rugby. On 11 February 2013, he retired with immediate effect following diagnosis of a heart condition.

References

External links

Bath profileGuinness Premiership profileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mears, Lee 1979 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union hookers Bath Rugby players People educated at Colston's School Rugby union players from Torquay