Paul William Dodge (born 26 February 1958 in

Leicester, England Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nati ...

) is a former

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

international footballer who gained 32

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for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances. Dodge started playing for his local club, Syston RFC, from where he progressed to join Tigers as a youth player and as a 17-year-old, made his first team debut in the annual Christmas fixture against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

. His debut came two years later. With

Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 British & Irish Lion ...

he formed a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

partnership that played for Tigers, England and the British Lions tour to South Africa in 1980. In 1985 he captained England eight times and captained Tigers in the 1987/88 season. After retiring he became Leicester backs coach between 1993 and 1996 before becoming an academy coach in 1998.

External links

Sporting Heroes part 1Sporting Heroes part 2Sporting Heroes part 3Sunday Times article 15 November 2009
1958 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union centres Leicester Tigers players Leicester Tigers coaches British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union players from Leicester {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub