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Rory Underwood MBE (born 19 June 1963 in Middlesbrough, England) is a former English rugby union footballer who played wing for, most notably, Leicester Tigers and Bedford. He represented England and the British Lions and is a former Royal Air Force pilot. He was educated at Barnard Castle School and RAF College Cranwell. Having first laced up his rugby boots as a youngster at Middlesbrough Rugby Club (with Rob Andrew and Bernie Coyne) he went on to become one of the greatest wings in rugby union. Underwood is the top leading try scorer of England in international match and he is of Chinese-English parentage. He won 85 England and 6 Lions caps between 1984 and 1996 (then an English record, later surpassed by Jason Leonard - it remains the highest total for an English back), scoring a record 49 tries for England, and 1 for the British Lions. He played for England in the Rugby World Cups of 1987, 1991 and 1995. In 1992 he switched from the right to the left wing to accommodate his younger brother, Tony, in the team. They were the first brothers to represent England at the same time since 1937. |