Phil Christophers

This article is about the German rugby union player. For the Canadian politician, see Philip Christophers.

Philip Derek Christophers (born on 16 June 1980 in Heidelberg) is a former rugby union footballer, who played on the wing for Castres and, briefly, England.

Phil Christophers

Birth name	Philip Derek Christophers
Date of birth	(1980-06-16) 16 June 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Heidelberg, Germany
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	94 kg (207 lb)
School	Lancaster Royal Grammar School
University	Loughborough University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing Current team retired Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) RG Heidelberg Loughborough Students RUFC () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2000 2001-2003 2003-2005 2005-2010 2012-2013 CA Brive Bristol Shoguns Leeds Tykes Castres Olympique Aix en Provence 28 52 (45) (55) International career Years Team Apps (Points) 2002-2003 England 3 (5)

Christophers was born and raised in Germany with an English father and a German mother. At 16 he moved to England to attend the sixth form at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he represented England at under-16 and under-18 level, and sat next to Anthony in his form class and next to Andy in maths. He studied Geography at Loughborough University, for whom he played in a BUSA final. In 2000, he took a year out of his studies playing for Brive and represented England under-21s. On graduation, in 2001, he signed full-time with Bristol Shoguns.

During the 2002/03, season Christophers was a regular for Bristol Shoguns and a bit-part player for England. However, when Bristol Shoguns were relegated at end of that season, he signed for Leeds Tykes.

Christophers scored a try on his England debut against Argentina.^[1] In his third and final appearance for England, he came on as a replacement in the 2003 Six Nations Championship match against Wales. However just after coming on he was sin-binned.^[2] England went on to win the Grand Slam.^[3]

During the 2003/04 season at Leeds, he was named both the Players Player of the Year and Supporters Player of the Year. He toured New Zealand and Australia with England, but did not play.

At the end of the 2004-05 season, Leeds won the Powergen Cup where he was a starter.^[4]

At the end of the 2004/05 season, he decided to join Castres Olympiques in the Top 14 in France. He played for Castres from 2005-10. Without a club from July 2010 until the end of June 2011, he played two years for Aix en Provence in the Pro D2 before ending his professional career in the summer of 2013.

Honours

• Runner-up versus Gloucester in the 2002 Premiership Final
• Six Nations Grand Slam 2003
• Powergen Cup/Anglo-Welsh Cup titles: 1
  • 2005

References

1. "Argentina beaten by England youngsters". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 June 2002. Retrieved 20 March 2016.
2. "England ease past battling Welsh". BBC. 22 February 2003. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
3. "Awesome England clinch Grand Slam". BBC. 30 March 2003. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
4. "Bath 12-20 Leeds". BBC. 16 April 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2013.

External links

• England profile
• rugby-heroes.net profile