The ultimate rugby team from players in the South-West

Forwards

1 Prop Arthur Leyland Harrison

Our first choice at prop is Arthur Leyland Harrison, the only England rugby international in history to have won the Victoria Cross, the highest awarded for gallantry in the British Armed Forces.

Born in Torquay, Harrison won two caps for England in 1914 and, during World War One, he was part of the famous Zebrugge Raid of 1918. Harrison was severely injured as he led his men on a raid to block the Zebrugge-Bruges Canal, silencing the enemy guns for those behind him to complete the mission. Harrison’s body was never recovered but his posthumously awarded VC is on display at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth.

2 Hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie Born in Truro, Cowan-Dickie represented Cornish Pirates and Plymouth Albion in his early career but was always destined to make the major breakthrough with Exeter Chiefs. Cowan-Dickie would star in the Sandy Park front row for 12 years from 2011-2023, finally ending his love affair with the Chiefs to sign for Sale Sharks at the beginning of this season.

He famously scored the opening try against Racing 92, as the Chiefs won the European Champions Cup in 2020. He has racked up 41 caps for England caps and represented the British and Irish Lions in their 2021 tour of South Africa.

3 Prop Phil Vickery

Born in Barnstaple and the son of a dairy farmer, Vickery first started playing for Cornish club Bude and then moved to Redruth. From here, he was picked up by Gloucester Rugby, spending nine years with the club before moving to London Wasps in 2006.

Vickery won 73 caps for England and was one of only four players to start in the 2003 and 2007 World Cup Finals, the other three being Jonny Wilkinson, Jason Robinson and Ben Kay. He was part of the Lions’ tours to Australia in 2001 and South Africa in 2009.

4 Second row Robert Dibble The number four shirt goes to Robert (Bob) Dibble. Bob was born in Bridgwater in 1882 and his father, also called Robert, was manager of the local brickworks. Bob Jnr. was a powerful forward for Bridgwater RFC and became a legend of the Westcountry game.

Dibble represented Somerset for a record 72 times and made his international debut for England in a Test Match against Scotland in 1906. He won a total of 19 caps and was part of the 1908 Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia.

5 Second row Luke Charteris

Born in Camborne, Charteris began his senior rugby career with the Newport Gwent Dragons and was selected for the Wales national team within a year of making his club debut. Prolific in the line-out, Charteris also played for Perpignan, Racing 92 and Bath.

He won 74 caps for Wales over a period of 13 years and featured in two Rugby World Cup tournaments.  

6 Flanker Sam Simmonds

Picking up the number six shirt is Sam Simmonds, who was born in Torquay, grew up in Teignmouth and attended Ivybridge Community College.

Simmonds came through the Exeter Chiefs Academy, alongside his brother Joe, and made his professional debut in 2012. In over a decade as a Chief, Simmonds had loan spells with Plymouth Albion and Cornish Pirates.

He helped Exeter win the Gallagher Premiership for the first time in their history and then the European Champions Cup. His performances in that season led to Simmonds becoming only the seventh Englishman to be named European Player of the Year.

Simmonds has won ten England caps and now plays for Montpellier in France.

7 Flanker Joe Launchbury

Launchbury played as a junior Exmouth RFC and for St John’s School in Sidmouth. Despite his East Devon credentials, Launchbury burst on to the professional scene with Wasps, where he would spend more than a decade of his career.

He won the first of 65 England caps in 2012 and it was a major surprise when he was not selected for 2013 Lions’ tour to Australia. 

8 Number 8 Richard Baxter

We complete the SW pack with another legend of Exeter Chiefs. Over the course of 16 seasons, the indomitable Richard Baxter made 431 appearances for the club and scored an impressive 126 tries.

Born in Exeter, Baxter was a major cog in the wheel as the Chiefs rose to become one of the leading clubs in Europe. Alongside his brother Rob and all the Chiefs of that era, he helped put Devon Rugby on the map and further underlined the power of SW Rugby.

Backs

9 Scrum-half Richard Nancekivell

Our number nine, Richard Nancekivell, played for Launceston RFC (The Cornish All Blacks) alongside his brothers Roly and Eddie. His greatest triumph came at Twickenham in 1990, when Cornwall took on Yorkshire in the County Cup Final.

It felt like most of Cornwall descended on the home of English rugby and Nancekivell scored two tries to bring his side back into the game after trailing 16-3. He effectively carried his team into extra-time and Cornwall screamed to a 29-20 victory.

10 Fly-half Billy Burns

Playing alongside Nancekivell in the half-back role is Ireland international Billy Burns, who learned his trade at Beechen Cliff School in Bath.

Billy Burns was a prolific points scorer as a youngster and played for England at youth level. He graduated into the first team at Gloucester but then made the switch to Ulster. He qualified to play for Ireland through his grandfather and won seven caps in the famous green jersey,

11 Winger Jeremy Guscott

The first winger in our team is one of classiest players ever to wear the red rose of England.

Born in Bath, Guscott was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016. He won 65 caps for England and represented the Lions on eight occasions. He spent the entirety of his club career with Bath and was regarded as a rugby player blessed with wonderful silky skills.

12 Centre Henry Slade

Henry Slade, who was born in Plymouth and has been a leading performer at Sandy Park over the past decade. In that time, Slade has also bagged 57 international caps for England.

Slade scored a try in 2020 European Cup Final and his versatility will be pivotal across the backs in our team. He is also a superb kicker.

13 Centre Bert Solomon

The extraordinary Bert Solomon was born in Redruth in 1885 and was a member of the Great Britain team in the 1908 Olympic Games, which were held in London.

He helped Cornwall win the County Championship in 1908 and scored a sublime individual try on his debut for England in 1910.

Bert will wear our number 13 and his mystical status was arguably created by his decision to retire from rugby at the age of just 25. He shunned the rugby life and often had to be persuaded to turn out for Redruth, preferring instead to tend to his pigeons. When he did play, the crowd often doubled or tripled in size.

14 Winger Jack Nowell

Winger Jack Nowell came through the youth system with the Cornish Pirates and attended the Mounts Bay Academy near Penzance. He attended Truro College and made his debut for the Chiefs in 2012, winning the Breakthrough Player Award for the league in his first season.

Nowelll was part of the double-winning team at Sandy Park in 2020 and he has also racked up 46 caps for England, plus two appearances for the Lions. Nowell moved to La Rochelle in France last year.

15 Full-back Matt Perry

Perry was born in Bath and attended the famed Millfield School. He spent time learning the game in South Africa but Bath was his rugby home and Perry enjoyed a wonderful decade with the club, racking up an impressive 561 points.

He also won 36 caps for England and represented the Lions on three occasions. Injury cut short his career but Perry had done enough to make our team.

Coach Rob Baxter

This team of SW greats deserves a talented leader and our head coach is Rob Baxter, who was born in Tavistock, played for Exeter and is now Director of Rugby for the Chiefs.