Neil Robert Fletcher (born 4 June 1976)[1] is a former rugby union lock who played 42 games for Leicester Tigers from 1996 to 1999,[2] and 11 games for Sale Sharks. He was an unused replacement in the 1997 Heineken Cup Final.
| Birth name | Neil Robert Fletcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 4 June 1976 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Walsall, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 224 lb (16 st 0 lb; 102 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Hydesville Tower School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Leicester
editFletcher made his Leicester debut on 5 October 1996 in a Courage League match against West Hartlepool, and featured in 20 of 24 matchday squads towards the end of that season including the 1997 Heineken Cup Final.[3] He struggled for game time in 1997-98 featuring only 4 times, but was regularly used during the 1998-99 Premiership Rugby season where he featured 17 times as Leicester won the title.[4] On Saturday 25 September 1999 he was sent off in a Premiership game at Welford Road against Sale.[5] He made his final appearance for Leicester the next week in a match against Gloucester.[6]
Sale
editAfter the end of the 1999 Rugby World Cup Fletcher fell down the pecking order at Leicester and moved to Sale initially on loan. He made his debut for Sale against Bedford on 26 December. On 25 July 2000 he made the move to Sale permanent.[7] He left Sale after the 2000-01 season.
Birmingham & Solihull
editFletcher joined second division club Birmingham & Solihull for the 2001-02 season and made headlines by "exposing himself" in an official team picture used on the front cover of the club's official match programme.[8]
Sources
edit- Farmer, Stuart; Hands, David (2014). Tigers-Official History of Leicester Football Club. The Rugby Development Foundation. ISBN 978-0-9930213-0-5.)
References
edit- ^ "Matt Poole". ESPNscrum. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
- ^ Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 433.
- ^ Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 256.
- ^ Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 264.
- ^ David Llewellyn (25 September 1999). "Rugby Union: Fletcher's red card fires cubs". The Independent. Archived from the original on 18 June 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ Farmer & Hands 2014, p. 271.
- ^ "Ambitious Sharks snap up Fletcher". ESPN. 25 July 2000. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ "Fletcher's flash requires cover-up". The Telegraph. 8 September 2001. Retrieved 24 February 2021.