Mike Catt - Rugby Player Profile
Michael John Catt, the 40 year-old former England and London Irish player was born on September 17, 1971, Port Elizabeth, but played his rugby for England, recently being appointed as the attacks coach of the national side under Stuart Lancaster, the head
coach of England.
Catt was introduced to rugby in his birth country playing for Eastern Province as a student, but it was in England where he forged his reputation as one of the best players to grace the field. He joined Bath Rugby in 1992 as an understudy to Stuart Barnes,
the England fly-half and made his debut for Bath against Northampton in the same year.
Thus began a career that would last a good part of two decades, having only represented two teams in the Premiership, the top tier of Rugby in England. He played for Bath from 1997 till 2004. In total he played 91 times for the club, starting 87 of those
games and coming on as a substitute a further 4 times. He managed to score 383 points, and during his time at the club, they won a healthy 65.93% of their games.
Catt was a specialist at centre and fly-half but he was equally adept at fullback and the wing. His contract was not renewed in 2004 by Bath, and subsequently he joined the London Irish. It was a good period in his career and he reinvigorated himself as
a player. He played for the club from 2004 till 2010, and after hanging up his boots, he would join the backroom staff as a coach. A position he recently relinquished and joined up the England setup on an interim basis. For Irish he played 76 games, starting
61 of them and coming on as a substitute a further 15 times. He only scored 61 times for the club, and with him in the team, they won 52.63% of their games.
He made his international debut against Wales at Twickenham, on March 19, 1994 and would go on to represent his country 75 times. He was selected for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and played in the semi-final against the All Blacks. His excellent work rate earned
him his first appearance for the British and Irish Lions in 1997. This was the only time he played for the elite team, even though he was selected later but could not play due to injuries.
He played at the 1999 World Cup, with England losing at the quarter-final stage but his crowning moment came at the 2003 Rugby World Cup, when England ran out eventual winners. There was going to be one final World Cup in 2007 for the fly-away, as he became
the oldest ever player to appear at a World Cup final against South Africa.
His last match in England colours was against his country of birth South Africa at Stade de France, on October 20, 2007.
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