England sweatshirt England manager - Martin Johnson Martin Osborne Johnson, more commonly known as Martin Johnson, England team manager, was born on 9th March 1970 in Solihull, England. At the age of seven Martin Johnson's family moved to Leicestershire where he spent his school years and then played American football for the Leicester Panthers as a defensive end. Later, following an invitation by All Black rugby player Colin Mead, he succesfully trialled for the New Zealand rugby team King Country and played as lock for them for two seasons. In 1989 Martin Johnson returned to England where he joined the Rugby Union team the Leicester Tigers and played for them for 16 years until his retirement from playing in 2005. His England debut came in a match against France in 1993, when he played superbly despite being drafted in at the eleventh hour to replace an injured Wade Dooley. Some years later in 1997 he became captain of the Leicester Tigers winning the Pilkington Cup, in the same year Martin Johnson was also made captain of the British Lions tour of South Africa. He was asked to captain the Lions again in 2001 in a tour of Australia, two years earlier England manager Clive Woodward had also handed Martin Johnson the captaincy of England. Under the captaincy of Martin Johnson England won the 2003 Six Nations Grand Slam, there then followed a successful tour of Australia and New Zealand leading up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia. The 2003 Rugby World Cup remains England's finest moment, the team triumphed in the tournament which culminated in an exciting final win against Australia. The success of England at the tournament was largely attributed to the captaincy of Martin Johnson and the kicking ability of Jonny Wilkinson, one month after the Rugby World Cup triumph Martin Johnson retired from International rugby. He was awarded a CBE in the 2004 New Year honours list and continued to play for the Leicester Tigers until 2005. In 2008 following much speculation Martin Johnson was officially named team manager of the England Rugby team.
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