Perry Freshwater England Profile
Updated December 1 2007
PERRY FRESHWATER
Club: Perpignan
Position: Prop
Born: 27.07.73 | Wellington, New Zealand
Height: 1.83m (6’0“)
Weight: 110kg (17st 4lb)
Representative Honours: New Zealand U19s, U21s, England A
Caps: 10
International Record: 2005 Sam(R) 2006 S(R), I(R), Arg, 2007 S, It, I, F(2), World Cup - SA(R), Sam(R)
Perry Thomas Freshwater, the son of Walthamstow barrow boy Tony, lived all his early life in New Zealand.
He started playing rugby as a five-year-old for the Wellington club before going on to Wellington College, where he was first capped by the New Zealand Schoolboys against the touring Welsh Schoolboys in Christchurch in 1990. He also played for the New Zealand U19 and U21 teams before deciding to spend a year in England and play for Leicester Tigers.
He made his debut against Nottingham in 1995 and went on to make almost 100 appearances for Tigers, 71 appearances off the bench – a club record - and became friends and flat-mate with the then Tigers hooker Richard Cockerill.
In 2003 he picked up his only England A cap when he played against France in Perpignan and liked it so much he joined the French club for the 2002-03 season.
He made his Test debut as a replacement against Samoa in 2005, started against Argentina in last November’s international and then took advantage of an injury to Andrew Sheridan to start three of last season’s RBS 6 Nations matches.
He was included in the RWC 2003 squad, coming off the bench against South Africa and Samoa.
Did you know?
Perry has his own appreciation society (PFAS). They regularly travel to his matches and have seen him play 11 times in 5 countries. The PFAS is made up of Thingo (President and co-founder), Gilly (Chairman and co-founder), Deano (Secretary) and Hot Rod (Press Officer).
Now that he lives near the sea in the south of France, Perry swims most days of the year and is a wakeboarding specialist. His house in the Perpignan countryside is surrounded by a vineyard, complete with orchard. He likes to walk in the nearby Pyrenees or visit Barcelona, only a two hour drive away. He enjoys cooking and specialises in local fresh seafood on his barbeque most evenings.
He maintains the players of Leicester Tigers ‛ABC club“ taught him all there is to know about propping, particularly Cockerill and Darren Garforth and he describes their work ethic as incredible. He quickly settled in at Perpignan and thoroughly enjoys the physical nature of French rugby.
