Richard Harding is a former rugby union international who played for England

England national rugby union team

The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 and on his last test

Test match (rugby union)

Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....

 captained them. He also played club rugby for his home city of Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

 and was part of Bristol RFC's cup winning side of 1983. After his sporting career he has concentrated on his profession as an estate agent and chartered surveyor.

Early life

Richard Mark Harding was born on the 29th August 1953 in Bristol. He attended Millfield School from 1968 to 1971 where he became head of house at Shapwick Manor, his nickname was "Gilbert". and went on to study Land Economy

Land economy

Land economy is the study of law, economics, and the environment. The University of Cambridge and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology are currently the only universities in the world offering such a degree at undergraduate level....

 at Cambridge University.

Rugby career

Richard Harding played rugby union at school and whilst at Cambridge University earned a Blue. He went on to play for Bristol RFC and was a stalwart of the team during the 1980s where he was also known by the nickname "Corky". He was particularly known for his extremely long pass which was used to great effect by Bristol. Harding would pass from a scrum straight to the full back which was intended to leave the opposing fullback flat-footed, allowing a two on one with the opposing wing. Whilst at Bristol he was part of the side who won the 1983 John Player Cup

EDF Energy Cup

The Anglo-Welsh Cup, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the LV Cup , is an English and Welsh rugby union knock-out cup competition featuring the twelve Aviva Premiership clubs and four Welsh Regions...

 Final at Twickenham

Harding's first cap for England came on Saturday, 5 January 1985 when England played Romania at Twickenham. The match was won by England 22-15. After that match, the position of scrum-half was contested by Harding, Richard Hill

Richard Hill (scrum-half)

Richard Hill , is rugby union coach and former English international rugby footballer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Hill was educated at Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, and Exeter University...

 and Nigel Melville

Nigel Melville

Nigel David Melville is a former England national rugby union team scrum half and captain.He became the youngest player to captain England on his début when he led them against Australia in November 1984. He went onto make another twelve appearances over the next four years.He attended Aireborough...

. Harding gained two more caps in 1985 against France and Scotland at Twickenham both in the Five Nations

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

. In the France game Hardings is remembered for his tackle on Patrick Esteve when he knocked the ball out of his hands over the try line. In 1986 he was not capped but returned to the team in 1987 when he was picked to replace the dropped Richard Hill

Richard Hill (scrum-half)

Richard Hill , is rugby union coach and former English international rugby footballer.-Biography:Born in Birmingham, Hill was educated at Bishop Wordsworth's Grammar School in Salisbury, and Exeter University...

 following disciplinary action against the latter following the 1984 England-Wales match in Cardiff on 7 March. Harding played in the final Five Nations match against Scotland and found himself as first choice for the first Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is an international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board and held every four years since 1987....

 in 1987. He played three of England's four games, (being rested against the USA) but was replaced in the 1988 Five Nations by Melville. He came on as a substitute in the Ireland game, and was picked for the end of season game against Ireland, which was played to celebrate the centenary of Dublin. The 1988 tour of Australia and Fiji saw two scrum-halves included, and Harding was one of them. Harding played in both Australian tests which both ended in defeat. The final test of the tour was to be the first ever test against Fiji. Harding was honoured by being selected as the captain, and England were victorious, 25-10. Harding was the fourth player from Bristol RFC to have been made captain of England.

Outside Rugby

Harding's background in Land Economy led him to become a Chartered Surveyor and he opened up Richard Harding Estate Agents. This firm operates from a high profile office in Clifton, Bristol and specialises in the sale of residential property. It was at one point sold to Humberts for a maximum total consideration of £2,543,000 of which £1.43million was paid in cash and £600,000 in Humberts shares with the balance representing deferred consideration and acquisition costs. However, was bought back by Harding in 2008 just nine months after selling it for £1.06 million,of which £60,000 pounds was paid in cash and the balance representing the cancellation of the outstanding deferred amount of £1.0 million.

Personal life

Richard Harding has a wife, Angela, who partners him in his business and together they have two children.