Josh Lewsey

Josh Lewsey

Full name	Owen Joshua Lewsey
Date of birth	30 November 1976 (1976-11-30)
Place of birth	Bromley, London, England
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
School	Watford Boys Grammar School
University	Bristol University
Occupation(s)	Army Officer, professional Rugby Union player
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Fullback, Wing, Centre
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	Amersham & Chiltern Bristol Wasps Old Fullerians
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
	London Wasps
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1998-2008 2005	England British and Irish Lions	55 3	(110) (0)
correct as of 1 Sept 2006.
Sevens national teams
Years	Club / team		Comps
2002-2008	England
correct as of 1 Sept 2006.

Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is a former English rugby union footballer who played fullback, wing or centre for Wasps.

Career

Lewsey was born in Bromley in London and grew up in Watford in Hertfordshire, where he attended Sarratt Church of England School and later Watford Grammar School for Boys. He played for the Amersham and Chiltern Rugby Football Club. He joined Wasps at eighteen and played for their Colts side and was under-21 captain.

Despite the fact that he was born in England and has always lived in England, he could have qualified for Wales as his mother is Welsh and his father is half-Welsh and half-English. He played for Bristol whilst attending Bristol University and rejoined Wasps at the age of twenty-one after completing his studies. He won his first England cap on the 'Tour of Hell' to Australia in 1998, and also appeared in all three tests in the 2001 North American tour. He graduated from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2001 and served for two years as an officer in the British Army with the Royal Artillery, before opting to play professional rugby union thereafter.

He made his England home-début in the Six Nations Championship in 2003 after an injury to Jason Robinson. He scored twice in a 40–5 win over Italy. He followed this with the opening try in his next game against Scotland, and was part of the Grand Slam winning side. He played well for Wasps and England A, and was an important member of the England side that won the Hong Kong Sevens in 2002. He also represented England in sevens at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

He had a key part in the tests against New Zealand and Australia on the June 2003 Southern-hemisphere tour. By then he was first-choice Full back, Jason Robinson having moved to wing. He was a part of the 2003 World Cup winning squad, and scored five tries in the 111–13 defeat of Uruguay

Lewsey played on the right wing against Italy and Scotland in the 2004 Six Nations Championship. He scored a try in both games, and was named Man of the Match at Murrayfield.

He was selected for the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand. He made an ideal start scoring two tries in the first five minutes against Bay of Plenty.

He was selected for the 2006 Six Nations Squad, but unfortunately was injured early on in the first match of the championship against Wales with an injury to his left AC joint, he consequently missed the following match against Italy, he did however return for the next game against Scotland.

In 2006 Lewsey was given the summer off from international rugby and spent time climbing in the Himalayas reaching the base camp of K2. He did not inform his club, London Wasps, of the expedition as he was sure they would object.

At the Middlesex 7s he scored 11 tries, and became the tournament's top try and points scorer, helping Wasps win their first Middlesex 7s title since 1993. He appeared again for the 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland.

For London Wasps he has participated in many major title victories, the latest being the Guinness Premiership Cup win in 2007/2008 when he scored a try in Wasp's 26-16 win over Leicester.

Lewsey featured heavily in England's campaign to retain the Rugby World Cup in 2007, scoring the only try against France in the 14-9 victory which put England into the final. However, just before half-time in the same match he picked up a hamstring injury which ruled him out of the final.

England's coach Brian Ashton did not select Lewsey for the England squad to compete in the 2008 Six Nations squad. However, he was called up for Martin Johnson's England Squad for 2008/2009.

On 24 March 2011 it was announced that Lewsey had agreed to come out of retirement to play for London Wasps until the end of the season.

Retirement

On 10 December 2008 it was confirmed that Lewsey would be retiring from international rugby to concentrate on his club career, ending his time in the England set-up, which spanned more than 10 years and claiming 55 caps with 22 tries scored.

Lewsey releases his autobiography on 5 February 2009 titled "One Chance: My Life and Rugby". While rugby heavily features in his book, he also covers more personal aspects of his life and general views on issues such as the countryside and importance of sports in communities.

On 5 April 2009, Lewsey announced that he would retire from Rugby at the end of the 2008/09 season. Although he had aspirations to make the 2009 British and Irish Lions team for the tour to South Africa he was not picked.

As an avid climber, Lewsey has opted for a complete career change and the opportunity to further his mountain exploits. Lewsey and his friend Keith Reesby were unsuccessful in their attempt to climb to the summit of Mount Everest via the difficult North Col route, in May 2010. Both climbers were within 500 feet of the summit when breathing apparatus failure caused them to abandon the ascent . Lewsey admitted afterwards that "He had never felt so scared" as the two climbers attempted to descend before running out of oxygen. Following this expedition he will join PricewaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant, working in the area of organisational performance.

In September 2011, Lewsey became an employee of Citigroup Global Markets Ltd. as a sales trader.

External links

• Wasps profile
• itsrugby.co.uk - Profile and Statistics
• Josh Lewsey interview at Southwesttrains.co.uk
• Josh Lewsey photo 1 by sportingheroes.net
• Josh Lewsey photo 2 by sportingheroes.net
• One Chance my Life and Rugby by Josh Lewsey Cover photography Peter Dazeley Virgin Books London, 2009 ISBN 9781905264537