Tony Diprose (born 22 September 1972, in

Orsett Orsett is a village, former civil parish and ecclesiastical parish located within Thurrock unitary district in Essex, England, situated around 5 km north-east of Grays. In 1931 the parish had a population of 1771. History It has historic ...

) 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 ...

footballer. He played at number 8. Diprose attended The Campion School, Hornchurch.

Club career

Diprose signed for Harlequins from Saracens in April 2001 and made his début in the pre-season friendly against

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

at Goldington Road four months later (18 August 2001). Diprose scored his first try for Quins in the Heineken Cup match away to Munster (5 January 2002) and for his efforts over the 2002/03 campaign, he was named 'Supporters Player of the Season.' Diprose retired at the end of the 2005/06 season and joined the coaching staff at Harlequins as the Academy Manager. As of January 2020 Tony is the head of sport at Canford School.

International career

In 1995/96, Diprose captained England A to an unbeaten season, just 12 months after being voted the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It pro ...

Young Player of the Year. Diprose has won ten full caps for

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 ...

and has a reputation of being one of the most talented footballing forwards of his generation. He won his first cap against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

in 1997 and scored a try. He was also called up to the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa as an injury replacement for

Scott Quinnell Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former dual-code rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond and the British & Irish Lions in rugb ...

. In 1998, Diprose captained England against after

Matt Dawson Matthew James Sutherland Dawson, MBE (born 31 October 1972) is an English retired rugby union player who played scrum half for Northampton Saints and then London Wasps. During his international career he toured with the British & Irish Lion ...

was forced to withdraw through injury.

References

External links

*
Guinness Premiership profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diprose, Tony 1972 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players Loughborough Students RUFC players Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Orsett Saracens F.C. players