Henry Paul

From Freepedia

Henry Paul (born 10 February 1974 in Tokoroa, New Zealand) is a rugby union footballer who plays inside centre for Gloucester and England. He formerly played rugby league for the Bradford Bulls and New Zealand.

He started playing rugby at the age of three with the Ponsonby club and later, during his time at Rutherford High, he played union during the week and league at the weekends.

Henry’s distinguished career in rugby league included 23 caps for New Zealand. While still a league player he helped Bradford Bulls beat Wigan Warriors in the Super League Grand Final in the autumn of 2001.

He was tempted away from the Bradford Bulls to play rugby union for Gloucester, by Tom Walkinshaw and Philippe Saint Andre. He had a dream debut, scoring 28 points against Caerphilly. A prolific goal kicker and a gifted runner and distributor, Henry began a four year contract at Kingsholm in 2001 and won national squad selection after just one game for Gloucester.

When switching to rugby union, he controversially decided to qualify for England rather than New Zealand. Although he was born in New Zealand, he qualified for England through his Liverpudlian grandfather.

He won a full England cap as a replacement against France in 2002. He has only managed to win a handful of caps since then and as he turns 32 in February 2006, his chance of further international honours seem to be gone.

He has excelled for the England Sevens side and was a member of the 2002 Commonwealth Games squad. He was a member of the England A team that won the 2003 Churchill Cup in Canada and returned there again on the 2004 Churchill Cup tour.

Henry returned to the England squad for the 2004 Six Nations, coming off the bench in Rome and Murrayfield and was considered man of the match for England A against France A in March - with five penalties and a conversion, and all round play of high class. He has now settled as inside centre for Gloucester after earlier periods at fullback, and fly-half. His long passing is a trademark of Gloucester’s style.