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| Born | Lee Mears (1979-03-05)5 March 1979 (age 46) Torquay, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 98 kg (15 st 6 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Paignton Community College Colston's School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lee Mears (born 5 March 1979) is an English former professionalrugby union player who played as ahooker. He played his club rugby forBath from 1998 until his retirement in 2013. He also played for theEngland national team from 2004 to 2012; he earned 42 caps and played in two Rugby World Cups, and played for theBritish & Irish Lions on their2009 tour to South Africa.
Mears first started playing rugby for theTorquay Athletic mini team. Then after playing at Paignton College, he went toColston's School and came under the guidance ofAndy Robinson and Alan Martinovic. He has played for Devon, and all the England age group teams. In 1997 he was a member of the unbeaten England U18 Schools team that toured Australia. He played in three world cup matches in New Zealand for England U21s.
Mears joined the Bath Academy in 1997 after leaving Colston's School. He managed to score on his first XV debut in a friendly againstSaracens. Having made 268 Bath appearances over 16 seasons Mears had to retire following medical advice after routine cardiac screening.
Mears was selected for the 2004Churchill Cup squad but did not play in any of the games. The next year he helped England win the 2005 Churchill Cup and after being named in the Autumn test squad, he made his test debut as a replacement againstSamoa in November 2005. He came on as a replacement in the2006 Six Nations Championship games againstWales,Italy andFrance, and earned a start againstIreland.
In 2007, Mears was selected in the England squad for theWorld Cup.
Mears was selected in the starting 15 againstScotland in the 2008 Six Nations. This came after several games trying to break into the side from the bench.
In June 2012, Mears announced his retirement from international rugby.[2] He retired from all forms of rugby on 11 February 2013, following diagnosis of a heart condition.[3]
Since retirement, he now runs a snack manufacturing company, specialising in budget potato crisps.