Shaun Perry (born 4 May 1978) is a former 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 it ...

footballer, who last played for

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

in the Aviva Premiership. His usual position was at scrum half. Perry, Shaun

Perry began playing rugby in the Youth Section o
Dudley Kingswinford RFC
at age 7. He rose through the age groups to eventually make his senior debut in the DKRFC Colts team. The next year at age 18 he was playing for the 1st XV, where he played for seven seasons before joining Coventry.

Biography

Born 4 May 1978 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, Perry started his career at

Dudley Kingswinford Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union football club based in Kingswinford in the West Midlands. The club currently plays in the fifth tier of English club rugby, participating in the Midlands Premier. The club runs s ...

in tier 4 of the English club game. He scored over 270 points for the Midlands team including 52 tries with the highlight of his stay being the 2001-02 season where he was the league's top scorer with 25 tries, helping Dudley Kingswinford to a runners up spot and almost gaining promotion (they lost the playoff match). Perry's point scoring exploits saw him be picked up by another Midlands team,

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

, whom he played for in

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

for two seasons, during which time he scored a try in a match against his future club, Bristol. After eleven games for Bristol during the 2005–06 season, Perry was called up into the England A squad. He was given the captaincy for the match against Ireland A. Towards the end of the 2005–06 season, Perry sustained a wrist injury which ruled him out for approximately eight weeks of play, and therefore also put him out of contention to represent England during the summer

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), ...

s to Australia, for a two-test Cook Cup series. In August 2006, Perry was included in the 2006–07 England Elite Player Squad. In October 2006, Perry was named in the squad that would compete in the

2006 Autumn Internationals The 2006 end of year tests, also known as the 2006 Autumn Internationals, refers to several international rugby union matches that took place during November 2006 principally between touring teams from the southern hemisphere – Australia, Argentin ...

against New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina. Perry scored a try for on his debut against

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

on 5 November 2006, though England were defeated 41–20. Perry made another appearance for England on 24 February against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the

2007 Six Nations The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen mat ...

match at Croke Park. He came on as a substitute replacing

Harry Ellis Harry Alistair Ellis (born 17 May 1982 in Leicester) is a retired English rugby union footballer who played scrum half for Leicester Tigers, England and the British & Irish Lions. On 8 July 2010, Ellis announced his retirement from the game ...

. Perry gave away a try and a conversion after having his pass intercepted, providing an easy touch down for the Irish. However, having lost a stone in preparation for fighting for a

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 ...

place, his next game for England was a Man-of-the-Match performance against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in a World Cup warm-up match 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 boroug ...

on 4 August 2007. A poor performance against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in the 2007 Rugby World Cup led to Perry being dropped from the 22 by England coach Brian Ashton. He missed 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 ...

after sustaining a fractured windpipe against Harlequin F.C. where he was caught with a stray boot. Perry was a welder before turning to a career in professional rugby. Perry joined French club CA Brive for the 2009-10 Top 14 season. In February 2011, it was announced that Perry has signed for

for the 2011/12 season.

Injury and retirement

In October 2012, he went down with a knee injury which required an operation and he was out for six months. In June 2013, he announced his retirement from rugby and a high contributing factor was the knee injury and operation from earlier in the year.

Honours

Dudley Kingswinford * National Division Three North runners up: 2001-02 *National Division Three North top try scorer (25 tries): 2001-02

References

External links

England profile

Dudley Kingswinford RFC

BBC: Shaun Perry to make international debut and Shaun Perry photo gallery

Bristol Rugby-Shaun Perry

Shaun Perry photo by sportingheroes.net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perry, Shaun 1978 births Living people Bristol Bears players CA Brive players Coventry R.F.C. players England international rugby union players English expatriate rugby union players English expatriate sportspeople in France English rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union players from Wolverhampton Rugby union scrum-halves