Iain Balshaw
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Iain Robert Balshaw MBE (born April 14, 1979 in Blackburn) is a rugby union footballer who plays on the wing or at full back for Gloucester.
Balshaw was educated at the Jesuit Stonyhurst College, at junior level he played for Preston Grasshoppers and joined Bath as a teenager in 1997. He made his senior debut in 1998, scoring thirteen tries in his first season.
Balshaw burst on to the international scene in 2000, when he was heralded as one of England’s most exciting young talents. He was picked on the replacements’ bench for every one of that year’s internationals. He won his first cap for England in 2000 at the inaugural Six Nations Championship match against Ireland, coming on as a substitute. In November 2000, he came on late in the England-Australia autumn International at Twickenham to give Dan Luger a last minute winning try, starting calls for his inclusion in the England starting line-up.
In the following 2001 Six Nations he finally made the starting line-up for England at full back and stunned the Welsh in the opening game at the Millennium Stadium; England winning 44-15. He toured Australia with the British and Irish Lions in June 2001, but suffered from a lack of form and did not start in the Test matches.
However, the 2002/2003 season saw him back to his best. He was a member of the England squad for the tour of New Zealand and Australia, before joining the party for Churchill Cup matches in North America. He scored two tries in a 'non-cap' international against Japan in Tokyo in June 2002, having recovered from shoulder surgery that restricted him to nine games in the previous eleven months for Bath. Problems with injury meant that his subsequent international appearances were few, despite criticism Clive Woodward retained faith in his ability and selected him to tour in the 2003 Rugby Union World Cup.
Balshaw played in the warm-up match against France in Marseille and impressed in England’s World Cup game against Samoa when he caught a diagonal kick from Jonny Wilkinson to score a crucial try in the 70th minute. He was one of 19 England players who took the field during the 2003 World Cup final win over Australia in Sydney coming on as a replacement in extra time.
With his move to Leeds in July 2004, his game at club level flourished. Iain was out of action for the beginning of the season with a groin injury, but after three months of work with the Leeds medical staff he was back to fitness. He made his debut off the bench in the Tykes first home win of the season against Worcester Warriors. Iain’s first start came away against Grenoble in the European Challenge Cup and he has featured in the starting line up for the Tykes subsequent games. After a run of five impressive starts Iain was rewarded with the captaincy for the Powergen Cup semi-final game against London Irish, and this performance saw him gain a recall to the England squad.
In the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand he was selected ahead of Kevin Morgan and Mark Cueto, but later ruled out with a torn thigh muscle.
Following Leeds' relegation from the Guinness Premiership, in April 2006, Balshaw joined Gloucester.
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