Ben Foden

Ben Foden was born on 22nd July 1985 in Chester, England and was encouraged to play rugby by his father Rob, who coached both him and his brother Tom as juniors. As a teenager Foden represented Cheshire, the North of England, and England at Under 16 level. He also represented the England Under-19s.

After impressing at age-group level, Foden caught the eye of Sale Sharks, who signed him ahead of the 2004-2005 season and he eventually forced his way into the first team reckoning, but he was up against stiff competition. Having played his junior rugby as a scrum-half, Foden found himself behind established Premiership player Richard Wigglesworth and, later, Wales international Dwayne Peel, at Sale so he was increasingly deployed as a full-back. Convinced that scrum-half was his position, Foden left Sale in 2008 having made 44 Premiership appearances for the club.

Having left Sale Sharks for Northampton Saints, Foden found himself battling for the number nine jersey once again, this time against Lee Dickson, who had just arrived from Newcastle Falcons. Similarly to Philippe Saint-André at Sale, Jim Mallinder, himself a former full-back, felt that Foden's pace and quick footwork could best be exploited from the back and, despite his move to Franklin's Gardens, Foden still couldn't get a game at scrum-half. This time, however, he stuck it out and began to grow into his role.

Foden was first called into the England squad during the 2009 Six Nations and was called off the bench against Italy to make his debut at scrum-half.  After two further substitute appearances at full-back in the 2010 Six Nations, Foden made his full debut in England's final game in France, scoring his first try in their 12-10 defeat. Foden held on to the starting jersey for England's tour of Australia and for their Autumn Internationals, playing in both of England's 2010 victories over the Wallabies. 

By the time the 2011 Six Nations came around, Foden was well established in the England side, starting every game, and was named as the top metre-maker in the tournament as England came agonisingly close to winning the Grand Slam. Foden also appeared in England's ill-fated 2011 World Cup campaign, scoring a try in their quarter-final defeat to France. Foden played in all of England's 2012 Six Nations matches and appeared on their tour of South Africa but injury kept him out of the 2012 Autumn Internationals and 2013 Six Nations and he fell back in the pecking order behind Mike Brown and Alex Goode.

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