Dominic Waldouck
Encyclopedia
Dominic Waldouck is a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer who plays centre for London Wasps
London Wasps
London Wasps is an English professional rugby union team. The men's first team, which forms London Wasps, was derived from Wasps Football Club who were formed in 1867 at the now defunct Eton and Middlesex Tavern in North London, at the turn of professionalism in 1999...

. He attended Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School
Latymer Upper School, founded by Edward Latymer in 1624, is a selective independent school in Hammersmith, West London, England, lying between King Street and the Thames. It is a day school for 1,130 pupils – boys and girls aged 11–18; there is also the Latymer Preparatory School for boys and girls...

 in Ladbroke Grove, London and attended Kew College Primary School.

Biography

Waldouck was born on Saturday 26 September 1987, and grew up in Shepherd's Bush, London.

At Latymer School in Hammersmith Waldouck gained A grades in three A levels – Philosophy, English and History of Art. He went on to join the Wasps Academy full time in 2006/07.

As well as his rugby talent, Waldouck was also a member of the Fulham Soccer Academy, though he is an avid QPR fan, and also played cricket for South-East England U16s.

His claim to fame is appearing on GMTV working out with Mr Motivator when he was 9 and his best rugby moments to date are scoring a try on his international debut and playing in the Heineken Cup final for Wasps.

His first ever 100m recorded sprint was timed at 19.86 seconds at the age of 15 but this quickly improved to his latest recorded time of 12.00 seconds.

In 2008, Waldouck stayed two nights in the Lister Hospital, Chelsea, in an effort to help his close colleague Danny Cipriani
Danny Cipriani
Daniel Jerome Cipriani is an English rugby union footballer. He plays fly-half, centre and fullback. He has played for London Wasps and England. He's currently playing his first season of Super Rugby as a member of the inaugural Melbourne Rebels squad.-Biography:Danny Cipriani is mixed-race, his...

 recover from surgery to his fractured dislocated right ankle.

Club career

Waldouck joined the Wasps Academy in 2003/4 and followed it with an international debut for England U16 later that season, celebrating his first cap by scoring a try against Italy.

He made his way into the Wasps A team in 2004/05, and consolidated that with seven A team appearances in 2005/06, scoring one try and two conversions.

It didn't take long for the youngster to make his mark, a regular in the AXV he also asserted himself on the 1XV stage playing at inside or outside centre. Waldouck describing himself as not the biggest of guys, relies on his good footwork and speed, which he sees as his strengths and these were certainly apparent as he began to make his mark on the domestic stage.

Following his first class debut, against London Irish in the EDF Energy Cup in October 2006, he went on to make a further 16 starts for the 1XV putting in some impressive displays and picking up two Man of the Match Awards in the process and scored his first try in the 2006/7 season in the vital Heineken Cup clash with Perpignan.

Waldouck ended the 2006/07 season on a high picking up a Heineken Cup winners medal after running out in the final in May. His efforts on pitch and dedication to succeed, led to a place in the senior squad in 2007/08 and despite injury hampering his start to the season Waldouck is now back on form and is focused on securing his place in the 1XV, eager to pick up further honours and silverware with Wasps.

Waldouck joined the senior Wasps squad at the age of 19 on a two-year contract that ended at the end of the 2009 season.

At the 2006/07 End of Season Awards Dinner, Waldouck scooped the coveted Players' Player of the Season Award confirming that he is a class player in the making.

During the 2007/08 season, Waldouck enjoyed senior appearances at Wasps and finished the season by playing in the 2008 Guinness Premiership Final where Wasps beat the Leicester Tigers to be named the Champions.

With Fraser Waters leaving the club at the end of the previous season, the 2008/09 season saw Waldouck claim the Wasps 13 shirt as his own with regular starts for the team.

At the 2008/09 End of Season Awards Dinner, Waldouck won two awards. One was for Try of the Season with his impressive try away at Castres in the Heineken Cup. The second award was for Young Player of the Season.

On Friday 6 March 2009, London Wasps announced that Waldouck had signed a two-year extension to his contract, keeping him with the club up to the end of the 2010/11 season.

After sustaining an injury in a pre-season match, Waldouck played his first game of the 2009/10 season against Worcester Warriors in September. Waldouck was involved in creating two tries and was named man of the match. As a result of this performance, many have been calling for Waldouck to be included in the England team for the 2009 Autumn Internationals.

On 17 August 2010, London Wasps announced that Waldouck had signed an extension to his contract keeping him at the club until the end of the 2012/13 season.

International career

Waldouck made his international debut for England U16 in the 2003/04 season, celebrating his first cap by scoring a try against Italy.

Waldouck was chosen by Brian Ashton, England's head coach, for the Junior National Academy in 2005.

Waldouck progressed from England U16 to U19 and played in the World Championships of 2005 and the next two seasons U19 Six Nations Tournaments. In 2005/06 Waldouck declined the opportunity of a second U19 World Championship in favour of remaining at home to undergo shoulder surgery, thus ensuring he is fully fit for the start of 2006/07.

After having a sterling performance in the 2008 Guinness Premiership Final, Waldouck was called up to the England senior squad to travel to New Zealand for their summer tour. He was originally picked to tour Canada with the England Saxons however after some unfortunate injuries to the original squad Waldouck got the call. Waldouck said "Being asked to tour New Zealand is fantastic, and I'm very excited and honoured to have been selected. It will be my first senior tour, and to go to New Zealand will be a massive challenge but it's a great opportunity to gather experience and learn from other players on the tour, and I'm looking forward to it immensely."

At the end of the 2008/09 season, Waldouck was selected to tour with the England Saxons to Denver, US as part of the Churchill Cup squad. He played Outside Centre in every of the Saxons' games which were against the Argentina Jaguars, USA Eagles, and Ireland A. Throughout the tour, Waldouck wrote a twice-weekly tour diary which was published on the RFU website.

In July 2009, Waldouck was selected for the 2009/10 England Saxons squad alongside club teammate and friend Danny Cipriani.

Now in June 2010, Waldouck has been selected for the English 'Elite' squad and although he didn't play in the tests, gained valuable experience playing in two mid-week games. Due to an injury he missed the loss to New Zealand Maori.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK