Paul Dodge

66
Paul Dodge bigraphy, stories - English rugby union player

Paul Dodge : biography

26 May 1958 –

Paul William Dodge (born 26 May 1958 in Leicester, England) is a former English rugby union international footballer who gained 32 caps for his country between 1978 and 1985. His Leicester Tigers career earned him 436 appearances.

Dodge started playing for his local club, Syston RFC from where he progressed to join Tigers as a youth player and as a 17-year old, made his first team debut in the annual Christmas fixture against the Barbarians. His debut came 2 years later. With Clive Woodward he formed a centre partnership that played for Tigers, England and the British Lions tour to South Africa in 1980. In 1985 he captained England 8 times and captained Tigers in the ’87/88 season. After retiring he became Leicester backs coach between ’93 and ’96 before becoming an academy coach in ’98.

His elder son Alex Dodge plays at outside centre and after much success in the Tigers Development XV, was promoted to the Leicester first team squad for the 2005/6 Guinness Premiership season, making 2 appearances from the bench. He is now a regular first team player for Nottingham RFC in National League One. His younger son Ollie Dodge has had a little more success than his older sibling, representing Midlands U16’s, North of England U16’s and England U19’s. Ollie was promoted from the Tigers Development XV to the Leicester first team in the 2007/2008 season, after helping England U19’s to a deserved third place in the 2006 World Championships in Dubai.