Richard Eric Peter Wigglesworth (born 9 June 1983) is an English

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 its m ...

coach and former player 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 ...

. He is the record appearance maker for

having also played for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

and

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

. He has won Seven Premiership titles, one with Sale, five with Saracens, and one with Leicester as well as three

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken 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 ...

s with Saracens. Between 2008 and 2018 he won 33 caps for . In his career he has played over 400 club games Born in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

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 ...

, he attended

Kirkham Grammar School Kirkham Grammar School is a selective, co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1549. Its roots can be traced back to the chantry school attached to St Michael's Church in the 13th century. The sc ...

. Wigglesworth's position of choice is as a scrum-half, and he can also operate as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

or as a winger.

Club career

Wigglesworth started his professional career with

coming through the youth ranks, and starting the 2005–06 Premiership final. In June 2010, Wigglesworth moved to Saracens. During his time at Saracens he won five further Premiership titles in 2011, 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019, with Wigglesworth featuring in all five finals. He also helped Saracens win the European Champions Cup in 2016, 2017 and 2019. He left Saracens at the conclusion of the 2019–20 season. On 6 November 2020 Wigglesworth joined

for the 2020-21 Premiership Rugby season. Wigglesworth was the first player to appear in 300 Premiership matches on 5 June 2021 when he came on as a replacement in the second half of the match against Bristol. He started the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat his former club

15-12, with Wigglesworth winning his seventh title.

Coaching career

Wigglesworth joined the coaching team at Ealing Trailfinders in 2019 as Attack Coach, combining this part time role with his playing commitments at Saracens. Following his transfer to Leicester Tigers in November 2020. Ahead of the 2021–22 season, he took up the Attack Coach role in addition to remaining as an active and key player in the premiership winning squad. With the release of both

Steve Borthwick Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach who played lock for Bath and Saracens. At International level, he represented the senior England rugby union team between 2001 and 2010 and captained them betwe ...

and

Kevin Sinfield Kevin Sinfield (born 12 September 1980) is the defence coach for the England national rugby union team. He is a former professional rugby league footballer, captain and director of rugby for the Leeds Rhinos. Sinfield also represented England ...

from Leicester he was promoted to interim head coach and immediately retired as a player. In the early 2000s, while being a professional player, Wigglesworth was part of the coaching team at amateur club Ormskirk RUFC, sharing his tactical knowledge and his experiences with the youth teams.

International career

Wigglesworth was called up to the

squad for the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

. He was selected 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 emer ...

and the training squad for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. Wigglesworth was named in the starting line-up for

in the 2008 RBS Six Nations Championship match 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 ...

in Paris. Sale coach

Philippe Saint-Andre Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count ...

said he is confident that England newcomer Wigglesworth has the mentality required for international rugby. On 23 February 2008, he scored a 79th minute try to help England to a 24–13 win in Paris. Wigglesworth served as the defence and kicking coach of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at 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 ...

Honours

Sale Sharks

: 2005-06 *

European 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 i ...

: 2004–05

Saracens

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2017–18, 2018–19 *

: 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19 *

Anglo-Welsh 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 ...

: 2014–15

Leicester Tigers

: 2021–22

England

Calcutta Cup The Calcutta Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the rugby match between England and Scotland played annually in the Six Nations Championship. Like the match itself (England–Scotland), the Calcutta Cup is the oldest trophy contested be ...

: 2015 *

Millennium Trophy The Millennium Trophy () is a rugby union award contested annually by England and Ireland as part of the Six Nations Championship. It was initiated in 1988 as part of Dublin's millennial celebrations. The trophy has the shape of a horned Viking ...

: 2008

Personal life

Wigglesworth married Lindsay Jane Fitzgerald in July 2009 and they now have two daughters, Matilda and Margot and a son, Freddie. Lindsay is a qualified dentist and graduated from Liverpool University's BDS course in 2007.

International tries

References

External links

Sale profileEngland profileEngland new boys – Richard Wigglesworth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigglesworth, Richard 1983 births Living people Rugby union scrum-halves England international rugby union players English rugby union players Sale Sharks players Saracens F.C. players People educated at Kirkham Grammar School Leicester Tigers players Leicester Tigers coaches Rugby union players from Blackpool