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Andrew Sheridan

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For the Irish cricketer, see Andrew Sheridan (cricketer).

Andrew Sheridan
Birth nameAndrew John Sheridan
Date of birth (1979-11-01) 1 November 1979 (age 45)
Place of birthBromley, England
Height1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)
Weight128 kg (20 st 2 lb; 282 lb)[1]
SchoolDulwich College
UniversityRoyal Holloway, University of London
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop, Lock, Number-eight
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1998–1999 Richmond 6 (0)
1999–2003 Bristol Shoguns 70 (25)
2003–2012 Sale Sharks 128 (40)
2012–2014 Toulon 44 (0)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2004–2011 England 40 (0)
2005, 2009 British & Irish Lions 2 (0)

Andrew John Sheridan (born 1 November 1979 in Petts Wood, Bromley, England) is a retired English rugby union player who played as a loosehead prop.

Sheridan is 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) tall, which is unusually tall for a prop, and weighs 128 kg (20 st 2 lb; 282 lb).[1] He is known for his great physical strength – he is a near-elite class powerlifter and able to bench press 225 kilograms (35 st 6 lb; 496 lb) and squat 275 kilograms (43 st 4 lb; 606 lb).[2]

Sheridan announced his retirement from rugby in September 2014, due to a series of neck injuries.[3]

Domestic career

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Early career

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Born on 1 November 1979 in Petts Wood, Bromley, England, Sheridan started playing rugby union at the age of nine with Old Elthamians, where he played for five years. In 1991, he went to Dulwich College and there he worked his way through the Surrey age group teams and was capped by both the England U16 and U18 Group Schools teams as a lock.

He joined Richmond in the 1998–99 season and as they folded he won a place in the England U21 squad that played in the 1999 SANZAR tournament in Argentina.

Bristol and positional change

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On his return from the SANZAR tournament he joined Bristol Shoguns, where he made around 80 appearances. His physique also caused problems; slightly short for a lock, he was also too heavy to be lifted in the line-out (a key area of second row play), meaning that if he played there, a tall back row forward (such as Dean Ryan) had to fill in; he was also not mobile enough to play in the back row himself; as a result it was decided to switch him to loosehead prop, despite his being very tall for that position. Sheridan was switched from lock to loosehead prop by New Zealander Peter Thorburn while at Bristol. He showed his versatility by also playing at Number 8.

Sale Sharks

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After Bristol were relegated in the 2002–03 season, Sheridan joined Sale.[4] In his first season at Sale, Sheridan played in the final of the 2004 Powergen Cup.[5] Sheridan started for Sale as they defeated Pau in the final of the 2004–05 European Challenge Cup.[6] Sheridan helped Sale Sharks to top the League in the 2005–06 season. An injury sustained earlier in the season meant Sheridan could not play in the final,[7] as Sale defeated the Leicester Tigers to become Premiership champions for the first time.

Toulon

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In 2012, he signed for French 14 club Toulon. In May 2013 he started as Toulon won the 2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 against Clermont Auvergne.[8]

International career

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Early international career and debut

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In 2000 he was a squad member on England's tour to South Africa.[9] During 2001/02 Sheridan played for England A against France A and Ireland A.[10] In 2003 Sheridan was selected to represent England A at the 2003 Churchill Cup in Canada,[11] as well as fixtures against the US and Japan.[12] In December 2003, he played for the England XV that took on the Barbarians immediately following England's 2003 Rugby World Cup success.[13] He finally won his first cap for England in November 2004, coming on as a replacement against Canada.[14]

2005 Lions Tour

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He was somewhat controversially selected for the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand, as many felt with only one cap to his name he was unlikely to feature heavily.[15] On the 2005 tour, he was sent to the sin-bin after attempting to punch Luke McAlister following a clash of heads in the game against New Zealand Māori.[16] Sheridan did not feature in the Test series.

First start for England

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However, he established his reputation later that year in England's November Test against Australia, playing the main role in out-classing the Australian front row. Neither of his opposite numbers finished the match. First, Al Baxter proved unable to deal with Sheridan's power, and was eventually sin-binned late in the second half for collapsing a scrum after being warned for repeated scrum violations. Shortly afterwards, Matt Dunning, who was forced to move opposite Sheridan, was stretchered off after a scrum with what was feared to be a serious neck injury; however, scans showed no structural damage to Dunning's neck.[17] Due to the sin-binning and Dunning's injury, the referee ordered uncontested scrums for the last 10 minutes of the match. He faced Carl Hayman of the All Blacks the next Saturday, who gave him a tough time at the scrum by scrumming very low, negating Sheridan's raw power.

2006 injury

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During a 23–21 victory over South Africa on 20 November 2006, Sheridan suffered a broken right ankle and ligament damage. The injury ruled him out for the rest of the 2006/07 season.[18]

2007 Rugby World Cup

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He won 'Man of the match' against Australia in the Quarter final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.[19] Sheridan played the full 80 minutes in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final.[20]

2009 Lions Tour

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Sheridan was included in the squad for the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[21] Sheridan played in two Tests, starting the third and final Test.[22]

Outside rugby

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In 2010, Sheridan recorded and released an acoustic rock album, entitled "Where We Go From Here".[23] The acoustic album features Andrew on guitar, along with piano, drum and vocal accompaniment, and was recorded at the local Cotyso Studios after Sheridan's wife contacted the owner.[24]

References

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  1. ^ a b "RCT - Rugby Club Toulonnais". rctoulon.com.
  2. ^ "All you need to know about tonight's teams". The Guardian. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 19 October 2007.
  3. ^ "Andrew Sheridan retires: England international forced to end career". The Independent. 30 September 2014. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Sheridan joins Sale". ESPN Scrum. 14 May 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  5. ^ "Newcastle 37–33 Sale". BBC Sport. 17 April 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  6. ^ "Pau 3–27 Sale". BBC Sport. 21 May 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  7. ^ "Sheridan joins England absentees". BBC Sport. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Toulon claim Heineken Cup glory". ESPN. 18 March 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2013.
  9. ^ "2000 squad selection". BBC Sport. 7 June 2000. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  10. ^ "Ireland 'A' triumph over England 'A'". ESPN Scrum. 15 February 2002. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  11. ^ "Woodward relies on Wasps". BBC Sport. 28 May 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  12. ^ "England 'A' thrash Japan". ESPN Scrum. 6 July 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  13. ^ "England celebrate with win". BBC Sport. 20 December 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  14. ^ "England 70–0 Canada". BBC Sport. 13 November 2004. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  15. ^ "Lions profiles – Front row". BBC Sport. 18 May 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  16. ^ "NZ Maori 19–13 Lions". BBC Sport. 11 June 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  17. ^ "Unlikely hero". BBC Sport. 14 November 2005. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  18. ^ "Hodgson & Sheridan out for season". BBC Sport. 20 November 2006. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  19. ^ "England 12–10 Australia". BBC Sport. 6 October 2007. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  20. ^ "World Cup final 2007". BBC Sport. 20 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  21. ^ "2009 Lions squad selection". BBC Sport. 21 April 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  22. ^ "South Africa 9–28 Lions". BBC Sport. 4 July 2009. Archived from the original on 22 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  23. ^ "Sale prop Andrew Sheridan releases music album". BBC Sport. 5 October 2010. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  24. ^ Gallagher, Brendan (2 November 2010). "England v New Zealand: prop idol Andrew Sheridan on song". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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England profile
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