Tony Underwood

Tony Underwood (born 17 February 1969 in Ipoh, Malaysia) is a former English rugby union footballer who played as a wing three-quarter back. He is of Chinese-English parentage.

Rugby career

His rugby talent was first nurtured at Barnard Castle School. Following his elder brother Rory, he played for Leicester Tigers and England. Tony had another brother called Gary, who played at under-21 level for England. He made his England debut in October 1992 against Canada, and went on to win a total of 27 English caps. Tony and Rory were the first brothers to play for England together since Harold and Arthur Wheatley in England's 1937 6-3 win over Scotland, and partnered in the 1995 Five Nations Grand Slam win.

He played in the Rugby World Cup in 1995, although arguably his most memorable moment in that tournament was when his opposite number, Jonah Lomu, ran a ring around him, before powering straight over the tackle of full back Mike Catt to score what would be one of his four tries in that game. In 1995, he left Leicester for Newcastle Falcons. At Newcastle he made 11 appearances as they won the 1997-98 Premiership. His last cap for England came in December 1998 against South Africa where he was replaced early; England went on to win. He would later star in a famous Pizza Hut advert alongside Lomu.

Post rugby

He is now retired from international rugby and having trained as a pilot, went on to fly for Easyjet he then became a long-haul pilot for Virgin Atlantic. He was seen on ITV's Airline training to be a pilot, finally graduating as a pilot, and completing his first flight with EasyJet from London Luton Airport to Zurich. He used to live in Monkston Milton Keynes, he now lives in Dubai, where he flies the Airbus 380 as a Senior First Officer for Emirates. He is married, with two daughters.