Key Facts
| Squad | Leicester Tigers |
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| Position | Scrum half |
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| Age | 30 |
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| Height | 1.78m (5'10") |
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| Weight | 92kg (14st 6lb) |
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| Caps | 27 |
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The best came last for Harry Ellis on the British & Irish Lions’ tour of South Africa last summer when he was one of eight England players to share in the 28-9 victory over the Springboks in the final Test.
His Lions’ debut, alongside nine consecutive England appearances last season, rewarded his hard work on the way back from the cruciate ligament injury sustained in the Guinness Premiership semi final against Bristol Rugby.
It had required knee reconstruction, ten months’ absence from the game and ruled him out of the 2007 RWC but he suffered a frustrating recurrence of the problem and missed the 2009 Investec Challenge Series.
Rugged and abrasive, he plays with effervescence as his trademark, together with sniping breaks that brought his initial caps six years ago. It also won him England Sevens’ and A/Saxons honours after a series of age group appearances included one for the England Schools 18-Group A team when he was only 16.
Now in his ninth season with the Leicester Tigers’ squad, he made his debut against Toulouse in August 2001 and precociously scored a try as a teenager in the 13-12 Heineken Cup semi final win over the Scarlets at the City Ground, Nottingham in 2002.
He played off the bench when the Tigers beat Munster 15-9 in the final at the Millennium Stadium that year and by mid-January 2010 he had made 164 appearances for the club and scored 28 tries.
The youngest of three rugby-playing brothers, he is the odd one out in the backs with Mark and Robert both figuring in the forwards. Their father Bob appeared in the Tigers back row.
Harry took up the game when six with South Leicester, then moved to Wigston and joined the Tigers’ Academy in 1997. He was educated at Leicester Grammar School and De Montfort University.
