Rory Underwood

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Rory Underwood (born 19 June 1963) is an English former rugby union player who is England’s all-time leading international try-scorer. He played as a wing and is famous for his speed, consistency and longevity at the highest level.

Early life
Rory Underwood was born in Middlesbrough, England, to a Chinese-English family. His father was a Yorkshire engineer who worked in Malaysia, where he met Rory’s Malaysian-Chinese mother. The family moved to Yorkshire in 1976. He attended Barnard Castle School and later began officer training at the RAF College Cranwell.

RAF career
While pursuing his rugby career, Underwood served as a Royal Air Force pilot. He flew Canberra aircraft with No. 360 Squadron RAF and later No. 100 Squadron RAF, and worked on electronic countermeasures training at RAF Wyton. He also served in roles at RAF Cranwell and No. 55 Squadron RAF before leaving the RAF in 1999.

Rugby career
Underwood is considered one of the sport’s greatest wings. He earned 85 caps for England between 1984 and 1996 and scored 49 tries for England, plus one try for the British and Irish Lions across his six Lions Tests in 1989 and 1993. His club career was mainly with Leicester Tigers, where he played 236 games from 1983 to 1997, and he also played for Middlesbrough, Bedford Blues and the Royal Air Force.

He appeared in three Rugby World Cups (1987, 1991 and 1995). A versatile winger, he often played on the left (number 11) but moved to the right (number 14) in 1988 to accommodate Chris Oti, and later played on the left again to allow his younger brother Tony Underwood to play on the right. In 1992, Rory and Tony became England’s first brothers to play together since 1937, and in 1993 they were the first England brothers to score tries in the same match.

Recent career and work after rugby
After retiring from competitive rugby, Underwood pursued business ventures and coaching. He founded UPH, a management and teamwork training company, and later Wingman Ltd. He has worked as a management consultant and served as a non-executive director of Leicester Tigers until November 2020. He has also worked as a motivational speaker and appeared on Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank.

Personal life
Underwood’s wife was an RAF air traffic controller; they have two daughters. He has two younger brothers, Gary and Tony (Tony Underwood, also a former England international rugby player), and a sister named Wendy. He lives near Grantham, Lincolnshire, and has been involved in local community work, including serving as President of the Grantham National Malaya and Borneo Veterans Association.

Publications
Underwood wrote Flying Wing, his autobiography published in 1992.

Honours
He is a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) and has served as a Deputy Lieutenant (DL).