Rory Underwood

Rory Underwood, (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player. He is 's men's record international try scorer, with 49 tries in 85 internationals between 1984 and 1996. Underwood's principal position was wing and he played 236 games for Leicester Tigers between 1983 and 1997, he also played for Middlesbrough, Bedford Blues and the Royal Air Force. Underwood toured with the British and Irish Lions in 1989 and 1993 playing in six tests and scoring one try. In 1992 Underwood played for England alongside his younger brother Tony Underwood, becoming the first brothers to play together for England since 1937.

Underwood's early life was spent in Malaysia. His family moved to Yorkshire in 1976, but his father was posted to Singapore and did not rejoin the family for another three years.

Royal Air Force In the Royal Air Force (RAF), Underwood played for the Strike Command and main RAF rugby team. As flying officer he flew with No. 360 Squadron RAF, an electronic countermeasures training squadron, on Canberras at RAF Wyton in Cambridgeshire. He then flew the Canberra TT18 with No. 100 Squadron RAF, also at Wyton.

Underwood took a ground-instruction job in 1995 at RAF Cranwell, becoming a flight lieutenant, while playing for Leicester. He became station flight safety officer, then joined No. 55 Squadron RAF (navigator training, now referred to as a weapon systems officer) on the twin-engined Dominie (British Aerospace 125), and continued in the RAF until 1999, although he could have stayed until 2001.

Rugby Having first played as a youngster at Middlesbrough Rugby Club (with Rob Andrew and Bernie Coyne), Underwood went on to become one of the greatest wings in rugby union. Underwood is the leading try scorer for England in international matches. He first played for England in February 1984 against Ireland at Twickenham. He won 85 England and 6 Lions caps between 1984 and 1996 (then an English record, later surpassed by Jason Leonard – it remained the highest total for an English back, though that has since been overtaken by Jonny Wilkinson), scoring a record 49 tries for England, and 1 for the British Lions, making him one of the leading try scorers of all time. He played for England in the Rugby World Cups of 1987, 1991 and 1995.

Underwood was capable of playing on either right or left wing depending on who was selected on the opposite side. More usually seen on the left wearing shirt number 11, in 1988 he switched to the right (and shirt number 14) to accommodate Chris Oti: in 1990 on the right opposite Mark Bailey, but on the left when partnering Simon Halliday, continuing on the left in 1991 opposite Nigel Heslop: in the 1991 World Cup he played on the right in partnership with Oti early on, then on the left in partnership with Heslop until the quarter-final and Halliday for the final two rounds, an arrangement that persisted throughout the 1992 Five Nations championship – which was initially billed as his final season before retirement, Underwood scoring tries in each of the first three matches of the championship, and coming close to scoring against Wales. However, Underwood changed his mind and opted to carry on, initially for the next match against South Africa (their first match since their readmission to international sport), and eventually for several more years – playing mostly now on the left, to accommodate his younger brother, Tony, on the right wing. They were the first brothers to represent England at the same time since 1937:

Like John Peters, Underwood is also a motivational speaker. He held a role as a non-executive director on the board of Leicester Tigers F.C, but left this role in November 2020. His new company is called Wingman Ltd.

International tries Try Opposing team Location Venue Competition Date Result 1 Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship lost 2 Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Five Nations Championship lost 3 Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Rugby World Cup won 4 Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Rugby World Cup won 5 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 6 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 7 Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Millennium Trophy Match won 8 Brisbane, Australia Ballymore Stadium Summer Tour lost 9 Sydney, Australia Concord Oval Summer Tour lost 10 Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour won 11 Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour won 12 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 13 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 14 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 15 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 16 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 17 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 18 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 19 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 20 Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship won 21 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 22 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 23 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 24 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 25 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 26 Dublin, Ireland Lansdowne Road Five Nations Championship won 27 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 28 Suva, Fiji National Stadium, Suva Summer Tour won 29 Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup won 30 Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup won 31 Twickenham, England Twickenham Rugby World Cup won 32 Paris, France Parc des Princes Rugby World Cup won 33 Edinburgh, Scotland Murrayfield Five Nations Championship won 34 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 35 Paris, France Parc des Princes Five Nations Championship won 36 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 37 Wellington, New Zealand Athletic Park British Lions tour to New Zealand won 38 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won 39 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 40 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 41 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 42 Cardiff, Wales Cardiff Arms Park Five Nations Championship won 43 Cardiff, Wales Cardiff Arms Park Five Nations Championship won 44 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup won 45 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup won 46 Durban, South Africa Kings Park Stadium Rugby World Cup won 47 Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Stadium Rugby World Cup lost 48 Cape Town, South Africa Newlands Stadium Rugby World Cup lost 49 Twickenham, England Twickenham Autumn Internationals won 50 Twickenham, England Twickenham Five Nations Championship won

Personal life Underwood's wife was an air traffic controller in the RAF. He has two daughters. He has two younger brothers, Gary and Tony, and also has a sister, Wendy. His brother Tony Underwood became a commercial pilot after retiring and also played rugby for England and has two daughters.

Underwood's long-lasting relationship with the RAF was put under strain when his wife was unfairly dismissed from the RAF for being pregnant, for which she received an undisclosed sum after settling out of court in 1995.

Underwood lives in a small village near Grantham in Lincolnshire, having lived in the area for many years whilst at Cranwell. He has often been invited to be a local dignitary, or to play for local charity sports matches. He is President of the Grantham National Malaya and Borneo Veterans Association.

Publications Flying Wing – An Autobiography by Rory Underwood, 1992,