Lee Blackett

Lee Blackett (born 21 November 1982 in Chester, Cheshire) is a rugby union footballer for Leeds Carnegie. His usual position is at centre. He went to school at King Edward VII and Queen Mary School in Lytham, and played some of his earlier rugby at Fylde Rugby Club.

Background

The Tykes initially signed Blackett, a former Rotherham Earth Titans captain, in February 2006 on loan with prop James Isaacson going the other way. Tykes director of rugby Phil Davies said at the time that "Lee is a player we have been monitoring for a number of months. We have been hit badly by injuries to our back-line in particular and the capture of Lee, added to our previous signing of Andy Craig ,will help alleviate some of those problems." He made his debut for the Tykes against Leicester Tigers on 10 March, 2006 in the Guinness Premiership and he made a further 2 appearances that season.

A product of the Rotherham Academy, Blackett was one of the Titans more consistent players after breaking through to the first XV, going onto make 50 appearances for the club and later being honoured with the role of captain at just the age of 23. Blackett gained representative honours with England counties and was part of the squad that went on tour to South America. He spent four seasons with the Titans, gaining some Premiership experience with the side in 2004 when he made his full senior debut against Bath Rugby.

Blackett went onto make a handful of appearances before the side were eventually relegated. In National Division One he established himself as the first choice No 12 and in the 2004-05 campaign was an almost ever present making 24 appearances for the side and scoring five tries , two of these coming against Plymouth Albion in Rotherham’s 24-18 league victory.

Blackett has plenty of experience playing in National Division One and whilst with Rotherham was regarded as one of the division's top players, with a strong reputation as a reliable defender. Despite only joining the Tykes until the end of the 2005-06 season, Blackett was one of the few players who committed their future to the club at the end of the season; which ended in relegation.

Lee attended and represented Sheffield Hallam University's 1st XV in Rugby Union where he played alongside Sean Lamont & David Strettle.

On 21 March, 2008, Blackett scored the Guinness Premiership's fastest ever try against Newcastle Falcons, crossing the try line after just 8.2 seconds.

References

External links

* [http://www.leedscarnegie.co.uk/index_teamprofile_lee_blackett.htm Lee Blackett - profile]