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| Birth name | Andrew John Sheridan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1979-11-01)1 November 1979 (age 45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bromley, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 128 kg (20 st 2 lb; 282 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Dulwich College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Royal Holloway, University of London | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Andrew John Sheridan (born 1 November 1979 inPetts Wood,Bromley, England) is a retired Englishrugby union player who played as aloosehead 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 tobench press 225 kilograms (35 st 6 lb; 496 lb) andsquat 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]
Born on 1 November 1979 inPetts Wood,Bromley, England, Sheridan started playingrugby union at the age of nine withOld Elthamians, where he played for five years. In 1991, he went toDulwich 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 alock.
He joinedRichmond in the1998–99 season and as they folded he won a place in the England U21 squad that played in the 1999 SANZAR tournament in Argentina.
On his return from the SANZAR tournament he joinedBristol 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 asDean 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 fromlock toloosehead prop by New ZealanderPeter Thorburn while at Bristol. He showed his versatility by also playing at Number 8.
After Bristol were relegated in the2002–03 season, Sheridan joined Sale.[4] In his first season at Sale, Sheridan played in the final of the 2004Powergen Cup.[5] Sheridan started for Sale as they defeatedPau in the final of the2004–05 European Challenge Cup.[6] Sheridan helped Sale Sharks to top the League in the2005–06 season. An injury sustained earlier in the season meant Sheridan could not play in the final,[7] as Sale defeated theLeicester Tigers to becomePremiership champions for the first time.
In 2012, he signed for French 14 clubToulon. In May 2013 he started asToulon won the2013 Heineken Cup Final by 16–15 againstClermont Auvergne.[8]
In 2000 he was a squad member onEngland's tour to South Africa.[9] During 2001/02 Sheridan played for England A againstFrance A andIreland A.[10] In 2003 Sheridan was selected to representEngland A at the2003 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 theBarbarians immediately followingEngland's2003 Rugby World Cup success.[13] He finally won his first cap forEngland in November 2004, coming on as a replacement againstCanada.[14]
He was somewhat controversially selected for the2005 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 punchLuke McAlister following a clash of heads in the game againstNew Zealand Māori.[16] Sheridan did not feature in the Test series.
However, he established his reputation later that year in England's November Test againstAustralia, 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 eventuallysin-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.
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]
He won 'Man of the match' against Australia in the Quarter final of the2007 Rugby World Cup.[19] Sheridan played the full 80 minutes in the2007 Rugby World Cup Final.[20]
Sheridan was included in the squad for the2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa.[21] Sheridan played in twoTests, starting the third and final Test.[22]
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]
England profile