Birth name | Philip David Acton Dowson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 1 October 1981 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Guildford, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 108 kg (17 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Sedbergh School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Phil Dowson (born 1 October 1981) is director of rugby at Northampton Saints. He is a former English rugby union player. He played for Worcester Warriors, Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons in the Aviva Premiership.
Dowson's position of choice was as a number 8 and he could also operate as a flanker. In 2004 he was a member of Falcons’ Powergen Cup winning side at Twickenham, scoring a try after coming on as a replacement in the final.[1] Dowson made over 130 appearances for the Falcons and captained the side for two seasons.
Dowson represented the England Sevens team at the 2005 World Cup in Hong Kong.[2] He was then selected for the 2005 Churchill Cup.[3] He was called into the England Saxons side that defeated Ireland A on 1 February 2008.[4][5]
Dowson represented England Saxons at the 2007 Churchill Cup[6] and 2009 Churchill Cup.[7]
Dowson signed for the Northampton Saints from the Newcastle Falcons in the summer of 2009.[8] In 2012, Dowson gained his first full international cap for England vs Scotland in the Six Nations. A further cap against Italy as well as substitute appearances against France and Ireland.
He was named as England captain for England's next match, although it was a non capped match, against the Barbarians which England went on to win 57–26.
In 2014 Dowson played as a replacement as Northampton beat Saracens to win the Premiership.[9]
He signed for Worcester Warriors having made over 180 appearances for the Saints, in the 2015-16 season in the Aviva Premiership.[10]
On 20 February 2017, Dowson announces his retirement from professional competition at the end of the season, where he will rejoin with his old club Northampton Saints as an assistant coach.[11]
Phil Dowson coached the England XV that faced the Barbarians in June 2019.[12]
Phil Dowson set up a print supply business in 2008. Nth Degree Imaging provides print solutions to the large format and industrial print markets. https://ndi.ltd