Austin Healey

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For the car brand, see Austin-Healey.

Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey, Merseyside) is a former English rugby union footballer, who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and has represented England and the British Lions.

He has 51 England caps and 2 Lions caps. He has played for England at scrum half, fly-half, fullback and wing, and has often been used as a replacement (or substitute) because of his versatility. He is a famously competitive and "outspoken" character, gaining the nickname "The Leicester Gob".

He was educated at St Anselm's College, Birkenhead and at Leeds Metropolitan University. Austin played for England U21 in 1992 and went on to represent England A and the Barbarians ‘96 tour of Japan

After spells at Waterloo and Orrell Healey initially signed for Leicester as a scrum half, having played at wing and outside centre for Orrell. He made his England debut against Ireland during the 1997 Five Nations tournament, and toured with the British Lions in 1997, making two appearances.

He has played in 4 Five/Six Nations tournaments (‘98-'02) and was a key figure in the '99 World Cup. In the 1999/00 season he was voted both Leicester Tigers' and Allied Dunbar’s Player of the Season.

Leicester coach Bob Dwyer switched him to the wing to accommodate Fijian Waisale Serevi at scrum half since Serevi's defence was not good enough for him to play wing. Healey was then selected on the wing for England.

After an injury to Tiger's South African fly-half Joel Stransky, and the unsuitability of others such as Pat Howard and Andy Goode to fill the role, Healey was switched to fly-half. In this position however, he was unable to make much of an international impression, his sole appearance at fly-half came in the 2000 tour to South Africa where in the first test after Jonny Wilkinson had food poisoning.

In 2001 he made the break during the Heineken Cup final that resulted in the winning try - Healey had started he match at scrum half with Andy Goode at 10, but was switched to fly-half in the closing minutes. He also scored the second and decisive try against Munster when Tigers retained the cup the following year.

His excellent form for Tigers during the 2001 season, was rewarded with a call up to England’s starting line-up during the Six Nations, and selection for the British and Irish Lions squad to tour Australia, where he put in some stunning match winning performances but unfortunately missed out on further caps due to injury.

However, for many people the abiding memory of this tour will be the controversy caused by his comments on Wallaby lock Justin Harrison in his column in the Guardian.

On his return from Australia he played in every game for England until he was rested for the summer 2002 tour to Argentina, showing his versatility by starting at fullback, scrum half, and wing and came on twice as a replacement.

He returned to international action appearing as a replacement in all three of the following season's autumn internationals when England recorded a series of victories over Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

Injuries curtailed much of the 2003-04 season, he returned for the Tiger's European quarter final against Munster but again had to leave the pitch. He recovered well enough to be included in England's preparations for the 2003 world cup, playing in the game against France in Marseilles, but missed the final cut when the 30-man squad was announced. He travelled to Australia halfway through the World Cup as cover at scrum half, but didn't play.

After the disappointment of the world cup Healey returned to the Tigers and played on the wing for the most part of a disappointing season for Tigers who only scraped into the Heineken cup through a wildcard final. Austin was discarded by the England coaches, and hs not played for them since the Rugby World Cup warm up match against France.

In the 2004/05 season Healey hit form again, and with the failings of the current England backline, there were calls for him to be reinstated to ignite England's backline. England coach Andy Robinson humoured the press that there was a chance of a recall, but it never came. Instead Healey turned his attention to the 2005 Lions' tour. He was included in the long list, but not the tour party (having not played international rugby for 3 years). He wrote a column, for the Guardian, on the tour, which included the quote 'Have you heard the latest from the lions camp? Clive's sending Andy Robinson to a fancy dress party tonight. He's going as a pumpkin, theyr hoping when it gets to midnight he'll turn into a real coach!'

Tigers finished top of the league, a notable performance for Healey was away at Wasps, where he scored in the last minute to steal a draw. However Wasps hammered Tigers in the final. In the 05/06 season Healey was handed club vice-captaincy and regularily captained the team from scrum half and fly half during the international period. He looked back to near his best form and pressed both Harry Ellis and Andy Goode out of their respective regular slots of 9 and 10 at different times throughout the season.

He announced his retirement at the end of the 2005/6 season following Leicester's defeat by Sale in the Premiership final, saying that injuries had finally taken their toll. Healey plans to start a new career as a banker with Credit Suisse and to also continue working as a BBC analyst.

[edit] Autobiography

ISBN 1-903267-02-1

[edit] External links

• Leicester Tigers page
• BBC News Austin Healey retires
• BBC News The world according to Healey