Old Haberdashers RFC

Bio - Our Swedish International Captain with 13 caps, Seb is a genuine Old Haberdasher having attended the school in Elstree from 1994 through to 2000.   Injury has blighted his most recent season of rugby and he missed last season whilst he was in New Zealand on a legal secondment.  He returns fit and ready for the 2009/2010 hoping to prove that his best days aren't behind him. He may have lost a bit of speed and has slimmed down from 102kgs but he is hoping that as he approaches old age his rugby nous, developing old man strength and eye for the gap will stand him in good stead, if that fails he'll just blame everyone else for being crap.

Position - anywhere in the backrow. Seb is one of those hypocritical rugby players who gets very frustrated when his team mates don't pass him the ball but is always convinced he didn't take the wrong option by taking on his opposition without passing... Luckily he has a hand off to be feared and can step like a crab.  Seb can often be found loitering in the backs waiting to make that break when he should be in the mix winning the ball but there are few who can put the shoulder in with such ferocity once he is in there. Seb can do a job in the centre but gets frustrated and misses the rough stuff up front.

AKA - "Sebastian", "Sith", "Swoop", "the Swede", "Aslan", "Seabass", "The Crab"

Long and Rambling Bio

Having a rugby loving mad Welshman as a father, Seb's sporting fate was sealed from a very early age. As long as he can remember rugby has been his life, his passion and his ambition, sadly, for most of his life, he has been the crapper, slower and fatter younger brother. He took up rugby at the age of about 6 when his older brother started playing in the year above him.  Seb was not going to be left behind and honed his battle skills in the back garden as he and his brother beat 7 shades out of eachother during the second half of any rugby game on tv.  On his return from Sweden in 1994 Seb started at Haberdashers Aske's and spent a couple of seasons in the B team playing prop/hooker. In the summer of 1998 he finally hit puberty and shot up from a fat prop to a blind side flanker in the space of a summer, playing a full season in the A team and earning school colours, perhaps his proudest achievement *sniff*.

At Birmingham University he made a handful of 1stXV appearances over his 3 years, mainly on those long journeys to the cold North East but ended up captaining the 2nd XV in his final year once he had decided he didn't want to be a benchwarmer. The turning point in his career came in Melbourne 2003 when he followed our beloved Troll to the gym and realised that his dislocated shoulder had now healed and he could start throwing the tin about properly. 

8 months, 10kgs of whey protein and 2 stone of muscle later he was scouted by the Swedish national coach playing in the Stockholm 10s 2004, he was given a trial for the national team in September 2004 (he qualifies because of his Swedish mother, who still knows nothing about rugby despite watching over 200 games) and after an impressive first trial game when the Swedes "thrashed the pants" of their hated Nordic rivals, the Danes, he was awarded his first Cap against Latvia.  Since then he has played 13 times for Sweden and been captain on 13 occasions, winning the majority (just), including 2 tests against Switzerland, where he came up against the Booth, both of which going the way of the more attractive of the SWs.

At Law School Seb was a member of the Unbeatables in the 2004/2005 season (when he was also top try scorer), playing with other OH legends - the Beast, the Fox, the Booth, the Troll, Dobbin and Nick Jones. The following year at law school he played in the Almost Invincibles along with Brian, Simon Jones, Booth, Richmond and Dobbin. 

OH RFC has been his club ever since making sporadic appearances, sponsored by his mentor, Costi Karayannis, throughout his Birmingham University and Law School days. He top try scored for OH in the 2004/2005 season despite playing less than half of the games. In partnership with the Troll he has endeavoured to bring the boys of Nottingham Law School into the fold at Old Habs and recreate that winning and fraternal spirit on the hallowed turf of Croxdale Rd. During the 2008/2009 season Seb was seconded from his law firm to New Zealand.  He brings back OH's first Maori, Downtown Christian Brown, and hopes a few more of his kiwi friends will follow in due course.

Due to a succession of knee injuries his days of top try scoring are behind him but he looks forward to focusing on the dark arts and the big hits. He promises to leave it all out on the field of play.

Seb enjoys - playing any form of rugby, the gym, doing his hair, entourage, pool parties, being moody, the P&P, 80s music and trying to dance like Stiffler.