| Birth name | Tony Underwood | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | (1969-02-17)17 February 1969 (age 56) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ipoh,Malaysia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Barnard Castle School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Leicester University St Edmund's College, Cambridge | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Rory Underwood (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | CommercialAirline pilot | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Tony Underwood (born 17 February 1969 inIpoh,Malaysia) is a formerEnglishrugby union footballer who played as awingthree-quarter back.[1] He is ofMalaysian-English parentage.
Underwood's rugby talent was first nurtured atBarnard Castle School. Upon leaving he was educated atLeicester University andSt Edmund's College, Cambridge, where he studied from 1990 to 1992 and won ablue whilst a member ofCambridge University R.U.F.C.[2]
Following his elder brotherRory, he played forLeicester Tigers andEngland. Tony had another brother called Gary, who played at under-21 level for England. He made his England debut in October 1992 againstCanada, and went on to win a total of 27 Englishcaps. Tony and Rory were the first brothers to play for England together sinceHarold andArthur Wheatley in England's 1937 6–3 win overScotland,[3] and partnered in the 1995Five Nations Grand Slam win.
He played in theRugby World Cup in 1995, and in theQuarter final match againstAustralia he scored a try that many regard as one of the finest in running Rugby, with his right-wing counterpartDamien Smith failing to tackle him, and that helped England to reach the Semi-finals. In the Semi-final he had another memorable moment in which his opposite number,Jonah Lomu, ran a ring around him, before powering straight over the tackle of full backMike Catt to score what would be one of his four tries in that game.[1] In 1995, he leftLeicester forNewcastle Falcons. At Newcastle he made 11 appearances as they won the1997-98 Premiership.[4] His last cap for England came in December 1998 againstSouth Africa where he was replaced early; England went on to win. He would later feature in aPizza Hut advertising campaign alongside Lomu.[1]
He is now retired from international rugby and having trained as a pilot, went on to fly forEasyJet. He then became a long-haul pilot forVirgin Atlantic. He was seen on ITV'sAirline training to be a pilot, graduating, and completing his first flight witheasyJet fromLondon Luton Airport to Zurich. He used to live in Monkston, Milton Keynes. He lived inDubai, where he flew theAirbus A380 as a captain forEmirates.[5] He is married, with two children.