| Born | Adam Balding (1979-12-07)7 December 1979 (age 45) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (17 st 5 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Caludon Castle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Adam Balding (born 7 December 1979, inCoventry) is a retiredEnglishrugby union footballer, his most recent team he played for wasLondon Welsh. He played as anumber eight.
Balding came throughLeicester Tigers academy and went on to make 66 appearances for the first XV. While there, he won thePremiership andHeineken Cup.
Balding was called up to the seniorEngland squad for the2002 tour of Argentina.[2]
Balding signed forGloucester for the start of the 2004–05 season.[3]After some impressive performances in his debut season, he was made club captain towards the back end of the season. InGloucester's first game of the 2005/06 season atWorcester, Balding was injured only a few minutes into the game. Balding returned from injury in early November, coming off the bench againstNewcastle Falcons. He went on to make 16 appearances during the season; however he missed Gloucester'sEuropean Challenge Cup victory againstLondon Irish at the end of the season. During the next 2 seasons Balding did not play regularly with stiff competition fromJames Forrester,Luke Narraway andGareth Delve. During those two seasons he was loaned out to bothMoseley andLeeds Carnegie.[4]
Balding signed for Newcastle on 1 July 2008 for the start of the 2008–09 season.[5] He signed for Worcester in February on a two-year deal.[6]
In 2012, Balding signed a contract with Newcastle Falcons and leftWorcester Warriors straight away.Balding suffered a serious Achilles injury in his third year at Gloucester which kept him out for 9 months; after returning to fitness game time was limited due to the form of the team. He then spent the rest of the 4th season on loan at Leeds.
Adam was signed to London Welsh for the 2012/13 season and had a great season.[7]