Rob Cook (rugby union)
Rob Cook (born 7 July 1984 in Lincoln) is an English professional rugby union player who played for Premiership side Gloucester as a fullback. Former Deputy-Director of Sport and Director of Rugby at King Edward VI Grammar School Stratford-Upon-Avon.[1]
Date of birth | 7 July 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Place of birth | Lincoln, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 89 kg (14 st 0 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Oakham School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | Worcester University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Rob Cook was born on 7 July 1984 in Lincoln, England.[1] He attended Oakham School for two years in their 6th Form.[2] In this time, he captained the rugby, cricket and football 1st Teams. He won the Daily Mail Cup at Twickenham in 2002, scoring his first try in the process.[3] He attended Worcester University, where he read sports studies and played for the rugby team.[4] He gained Representative Honours with England Universities, Midlands U18s and England Counties.[5]
Club career
Cook joined Nuneaton R.F.C. in 2007. He remained with them for two seasons (2007/8 and 2008/9), making 51 first team appearances at Full Back or Fly-half and scoring 140 points.[5][6] While at the Nuns he helped them to gain promotion to National Division Two when the club won the National Division Three North league title in 2008-09 as well as gaining selection for the England Counties XV due to his good form.[7][8][9]
On 7 May 2009, Cook signed for RFU Championship side Cornish Pirates.[10] Initially on the wing, he quickly moved to fly-half, before switching to full back where he remained for the rest of his Pirates tenure.[4] He was a prolific points scorer. In each of his three seasons with the Club (2009/10, 2010/11 and 2011/12), he was their highest scoring player, accumulating over 1,000 points.[11] In 2011/12 he was named in the Championship "Dream Team" as he racked up a thousand points for the Pirates and over one hundred first team appearances.[12]
Initially linked with a move to Sale Sharks,[13] he signed a contract extension with Pirates.[14] He rescinded this deal to play in the Premiership[11] joining Gloucester Rugby in July 2012.[12] On 18 October 2013, Cook signed a two-year contract extension to stay with Gloucester until the end of the 2015-16 season.[15]
He has been known for his unusual stance before attempting a conversion or penalty.[4]
Honours
Nuneaton
- National Division Three North champions: 2008-09
Cornish Pirates
- RFU Championship runners up (2 times): 2010–11, 2011–12
Malvern RFC
- Midlands 2 West (South) runners up: 2017-18
- North Midlands Shield champions: 2017-18[16]
County/Representative
- Selected for Midlands Under 18's
- Selected for England Universities
- Selected for England Counties XV: 2009[9]
References
- "Gloucester Player Biog". Gloucester Rugby. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Gloucester Rugby: Rob Cook's confidence grows ahead of Harlequins test". This is Gloucestershire. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "OO Rob Cook- debut for Gloucester Rugby". Oakham School. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 April 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Rob Cook - Full Back / Fly Half". Cornish Pirates. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Nuneaton Current Squad". Nuneaton R.F.C. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Rob Cook Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
- "National League Three North 2008-09". englandrugby.com. 16 May 2009.
- "Nuns look to celebrate title glory in style". Coventry Telegraph. 24 April 2009.
- "England Counties squad". rolling-maul.com. 27 May 2007.
- "Two More New Faces". Cornish Pirates. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Gloucester sign Cornish Pirates full-back Rob Cook". BBC. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Rob Cook joins Gloucester Rugby from Cornish Pirates". Gloucester Rugby. 12 July 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Sale rumoured to be targeting the Cornish Pirates goal kicking full back Rob Cook". 16 March 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Blow for Pirates as points machine Cook joins Premiership club". This is Cornwall. 12 July 1012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- "Cook contract extension at Gloucester". BBC Sport. 18 October 2013.
- "North Midlands Shield - North Mids RFU". North Mids RFU. Retrieved 23 May 2018.