Phil Christophers

Philip Derek Christophers (born 16 June 1980 in Heidelberg) is a rugby union footballer who plays on the wing for Castres and England.

Christophers was born and raised in Germany with an English father and a German mother. At 16 he moved to England to attend the sixth form at Lancaster Royal Grammar School, where he represented England at under-16 and under-18 level. He studied Geography at Loughborough University, for whom he played in a BUSA final. In 2000, he took a year out of his studies playing for Brive and represented England under-21s. On graduation, in 2001, he signed full-time with Bristol Rugby.

During the 2002/03 season Christophers was a regular for Bristol and England. However, when Bristol were relegated at end of that season, he signed for Leeds Tykes.

During the 2003/04 season at Leeds, he was named both the Players Player of the Year and Supporters Player of the Year. He toured New Zealand and Australia with England, but did not play.

At the end of the 2004/05 season Leeds had won the Powergen Cup, but struggled to stay in the Premiership. Christophers left to join Castres.

External links

* [http://www.england-rugby.com/englandrugby/index.cfm?fuseaction=News.News_Detail&storyid=7082 England profile]
* [http://statistics.scrum.com/rugby_stats_05.asp?ID=KCH36 scrum.com statistics]
* [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/rugby-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=1590 rugby-heros.net profile]