Henry Slade (rugby union)

Henry James Harvey Slade (born 19 March 1993) is an English professional rugby union player. He plays for the Exeter Chiefs in Premiership Rugby and represents England at international level. His primary position is centre but he has also played at fly-half and full-back.

Henry Slade
Slade at the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship
Birth nameHenry James Harvey Slade
Date of birth (1993-03-19) 19 March 1993
Place of birthPlymouth, England
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight98 kg (15 st 6 lb; 216 lb)
SchoolPlymouth College
UniversityUniversity of Exeter
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre, Fly-half, Fullback,
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2011–2012 Plymouth Albion 11 (21)
2011– Exeter Chiefs 178 (548)
Correct as of 3 September 2017
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2012–2013 England U20 13 (144)
2014– England Saxons 3 (13)
2015– England 57 (44)
Correct as of 19 March 2022

Education

Slade attended Plymouth College and then the University of Exeter reading for a BSc in Sports & Exercise Science.[1][2]

Club career

Slade plays for Exeter Chiefs in the English Premiership. He was dual-registered to Exeter and Plymouth Albion during the 2011–2012 season.[3] On 13 April 2013 Slade made his Premiership debut against London Irish coming off the bench to replace Gareth Steenson, Slade scored his first premiership points in this game kicking over a conversion following a try from Dave Ewers.[4][5] The following season saw Slade start for the side that beat Northampton Saints in the 2014 Anglo-Welsh Cup final to win Exeter their first major trophy in their history.[6]

In May 2017 Slade came off the bench for the Exeter side that defeated Wasps in the Premiership final to become champions of England for the first time in their history.[7] Slade scored a try in the 2020 European Rugby Champions Cup Final as Exeter defeated Racing to become champions of Europe for the first time.[8] The following weekend saw Slade awarded the player of the match award as he scored another try to help the Chiefs overcome Wasps in the Premiership final completing a league and European double.[9]

International career

On 22 July 2010 Slade made his debut for the England under-18 team.[10] England Academy coach John Fletcher once said of Slade "the way he plays reminds me of a young Toby Flood or Rory Clegg."[11] Slade was a member of the England under-20 team that won consecutive titles in the 2012 and 2013 U20 Six Nations.[12][13] He started for the side that defeated Wales in the final of the 2013 IRB Junior World Championship to become youth world champions for the first time.[14] In January 2014 Slade made his debut at England 'A' level against Ireland Wolfhounds.[15]

In June 2014 Slade scored fifteen points for England in an uncapped game against the Barbarian at Twickenham.[16] He was included in the preliminary training squad by coach Stuart Lancaster for the 2015 Rugby World Cup and on 15 August 2015 won his first cap for England, partnering Sam Burgess in midfield during a warm-up victory over France.[17] He was selected for the World Cup and scored his first international try on his only appearance during the tournament in their final pool game against Uruguay.[18]

A broken leg suffered playing for Exeter in December 2015 meant Slade did not feature for new coach Eddie Jones until the 2016 autumn internationals against Fiji and Argentina.[19] He made his first Six Nations appearance against Italy during the 2017 tournament which England retained.[20][21] He started both tests on their 2017 tour of Argentina and later that year scored his second international try against Samoa.[22][23] Slade was selected for the 2018 autumn International Series, and played in all four Test matches.[24]

Slade scored tries against Ireland and France during the 2019 Six Nations Championship.[25][26] He was included in the squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and featured in the quarter-final and semi-final victories over Australia and New Zealand.[27][28] In the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final he came off the bench during the second half to replace George Ford as England was defeated by South Africa to finish runners up.[29]

Slade scored a try in the final round of the 2020 Six Nations Championship as England beat Italy to win the tournament.[30] Later that year he scored a try in an Autumn Nations Cup match against Wales and then started in the final of the competition as England defeated France in extra-time to lift the trophy.[31][32]

In 2021 Slade failed to be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

International appearances
Nation Played Won Lost Drawn Points Win %
Argentina 5 5 0 0 0 100
Australia 4 4 0 0 0 100
Canada 1 1 0 0 0 100
Fiji 1 1 0 0 0 100
France 5 4 1 0 5 80
Georgia 1 1 0 0 0 100
Ireland 4 3 1 0 10 75
Italy 5 5 0 0 5 100
Japan 1 1 0 0 0 100
New Zealand 2 1 1 0 0 50
Samoa 1 1 0 0 5 100
Scotland 3 0 2 1 0 0
South Africa 6 3 3 0 0 50
Tonga 2 2 0 0 4 100
Uruguay 1 1 0 0 5 100
USA 1 1 0 0 0 100
Wales 5 3 2 0 5 60
Total48371013977

International tries
As of 1 December 2022[33]
TryOpposing teamLocationVenueCompetitionDateResultScore
1 UruguayManchester, EnglandCity of Manchester Stadium2015 Rugby World Cup10 October 2015Win60 – 3[18]
2 SamoaLondon, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2017 Autumn Internationals15 November 2017Win48 – 14[23]
3  Ireland Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium 2019 Six Nations 2 February 2019 Win 32 – 20[25]
4
5 FranceLondon, EnglandTwickenham Stadium2019 Six Nations10 February 2019Win44 – 8[26]
6 ItalyRome, ItalyStadio Olimpico2020 Six Nations31 October 2020Win34 – 5[30]
7 WalesLlanelli, WalesParc y Scarlets2020 Autumn Nations Cup28 November 2020Win24 – 13[31]
8  South Africa London, England Twickenham Stadium 2022 Autumn Nations Series 26 November 2022 Loss 13 – 27

Personal life

Slade's mother is Jayne and he is the oldest of three boys, his brother Seb (b.1995) is an actor, and the youngest, Albert (b.2000), is a rugby player and student. Slade has Type 1 diabetes,[34] and often injects insulin at half-time in a game.[35]

Slade is the great nephew of former Portsmouth F.C. footballer Geoff Williamson.[11]

In March 2020, Slade and his wife, Megan, announced that they were expecting their first child. On 14 August 2020, Megan gave birth to a daughter, Olive Margot Slade. Slade announced the birth of their second daughter, Orli in September 2023.

Slade has been criticised for comments he made in an interview in May 2021 where he stated that he would not take a vaccine for COVID-19.[36] He has since made a statement through his club clarifying that his remarks were not to be taken as opposition to the Government's vaccine roll-out.

The comments attributed to me in regards to the Covid-19 vaccination form a very small part of an exclusive interview I had with the newspaper, which was set up to talk about living with Type-1 diabetes. Not only as a professional sportsman, but also a person who has to closely monitor my health levels every day, I am acutely aware of the importance of vaccines and the role it plays in helping save lives.

— Henry Slade, https://www.exeterchiefs.co.uk/news/statement-from-henry-slade

Honours

England

Exeter

References
  1. Rendell, Sarah (17 February 2022). "Who is Henry Slade: Ten things you should know about the England centre". Rugby World. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  2. "Henry Slade – Official RFU England Player Profile". RFU. Archived from the original on 4 June 2013. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  3. "Henry Slade enjoying 'dream start' to rugby career". BBC Sport. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  4. "ESPN SCRUM – Exeter Chiefs v London Irish at Exeter". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
  5. Walrond, Nigel (13 April 2013). "Exeter Chiefs 27 London Irish 6: match report". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  6. Osborne, Chris (16 March 2014). "LV= Cup final: Exeter Chiefs 15–8 Northampton Saints". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  7. Law, James (27 May 2017). "Premiership final: Wasps 20–23 Exeter Chiefs (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 September 2018.
  8. Henson, Mike (17 October 2020). "Champions Cup: Exeter beat Racing 92 31–27 to lift first Champions Cup title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  9. Pilnick, Brent (24 October 2020). "Premiership Final: Exeter beat Wasps 19–13 to secure historic double". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  10. "Chiefs academy member Henry Slade scores on England debut". thisisexeter. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
  11. Mudaly, Lesleigh (15 October 2011). "Future Faces – Henry Slade and Tom Brown". Rugby World. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  12. "Under 20s Six Nations: England U20 40–9 Wales U20". BBC Sport. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  13. "Six Nations 2013: Wales U20 15–28 England U20". BBC Sport. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  14. James, Standley (23 June 2013). "Junior World Championship: Wales U20 15–23 England U20". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  15. "'A' International: England Saxons 8–14 Ireland Wolfhounds". BBC Sport. 25 January 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  16. Chase, Graham (1 June 2014). "England XV 29–39 Barbarians". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  17. Standley, James (15 August 2015). "England beat France 19–14 in Rugby World Cup warm-up". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  18. McRae, Donald (9 November 2015). "Henry Slade emerges from England's World Cup abyss with hope for the future". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  19. "Exeter centre Henry Slade has surgery on leg injury". Sky Sports. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  20. Fordyce, Tom (26 February 2017). "Six Nations 2017: England 36–15 Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  21. Fordyce, Tom (18 March 2017). "Six Nations 2017: Ireland 13–9 England". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  22. Standley, James (17 June 2017). "England wrap up series 2–0 with 35–25 win over Argentina". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  23. Jewell, Alan (25 November 2017). "Autumn international: England 48–14 Samoa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  24. de Menezes, Jack (18 October 2018). "Eddie Jones names squad for the autumn internationals". The Independent. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  25. Fordyce, Tom (2 February 2019). "Six Nations: England beat Ireland 32–20 in Dublin". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  26. Fordyce, Tom (10 February 2019). "England 44–8 France: Jonny May hat-trick inspires emphatic Six Nations victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  27. Fordyce, Tom (19 October 2019). "England beat Australia 40–16 to make Rugby World Cup semi-finals". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  28. Fordyce, Tom (26 October 2019). "England 19–7 New Zealand: Eddie Jones' side beat All Blacks to reach World Cup final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  29. Fordyce, Tom (2 November 2019). "England 12–32 South Africa: Springboks win World Cup for record-equalling third time". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  30. Grey, Becky (31 October 2020). "Italy 5–34 England: Visitors' victory proves enough to win Six Nations title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  31. Griffiths, Gareth (28 November 2020). "Autumn Nations Cup: England beat Wales 24–13 to reach final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  32. Henson, Mike (6 December 2020). "Autumn Nations Cup: England beat France in sudden death". BBC Sport. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
  33. "Henry Slade". ESPN. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  34. "Rugby fly-half Henry Slade signed his first professional contract with Exeter Chiefs at the age of 18, the same year in which he also developed type 1 diabetes". Diabetes. 15 January 2019. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  35. Squires, Neil (11 January 2018). "Exeter centre Henry Slade lifts lid on coping with diabetes in professional rugby". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  36. Keighley, Freddie (28 May 2021). "England rugby star Henry Slade criticised for turning down Covid vaccine". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
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