Leeds Career

Neil Back MBE, 39, joined Leeds Carnegie as Head Coach in 2008 on a three year contract. Prior to this Back spent 15 years as a player with Leicester Tigers where he won every domestic honour in the game.  During his playing career he won international recognition with both England and the British Lions and was part of England's 2003 World Cup winning squad.

Rugby Career

An all round sportsman Back began playing rugby with amateur side Earlsden before joining Barkers Butts RFC and it was whilst playing here that he was selected to play for England Schools.  From here Neil joined Nottingham, but after a frustrating time with the team not guaranteeing him first team action he joined Leicester Tigers in 1990.  At Welford Road he became a Leicester legend and won every honour available, including two Heineken Cups, scoring a try in the 2001 success. In 1998, Neil was named RFU "Player of the Year", and in 1999 the Professional Rugby Players Association's "Players' Player of the Year" when he was also the league's top try-scorer with 16. 
Back represented England at U18, U21 and A level before making his full England debut in 1994 in a 15-14 victory against Scotland at Murrayfield.  He had an incredible record with England and in his 66 appearances was on the losing side just eleven times.  In his final 18 games for the national side the team remained undefeated.  He ended his international career on a high when he was part of sporting history as England won the Rugby World Cup for the first time.
Neil Back was one of England's outstanding players during their victorious 2003 Rugby World Cup campaign; starting six of the seven games in the tournament and scoring two tries along the way. It was his third successive World Cup campaign, having also been involved in 1995 and 1999 tournaments, whilst he also toured with the British & Irish Lions squad three times in a row - to South Africa in 1997, Australia in 2001 and New Zealand in 2005.
He captained his country on four occasions during his 66-test career, including the Cook Cup victory against Australia during the 2001-02 season, the last occasion being the day of his 50th England cap, with him retiring from test rugby during the 2004 Six Nations.
Back took on coaching responsibilities at Leicester whilst still serving as a player during the 2003-04 season, eventually retiring from first-class rugby at the end of 2004-05, after 339 matches for Tigers' first team - which saw him score a staggering 125 tries. Last season he was part of the Tigers academy's coaching staff, as part of his role as the club's technical director, as well as looking after the first team's defence on a full-time basis.

Personal Details