Dorian West

Who is Dorian West?

Dorian Edward West MBE nicknamed "Nobby" is a former English international rugby union footballer.

Born in Wrexham, his family moved to England when he was young. Before professionalism, he was a police officer with the Leicestershire Constabulary's armed response unit.

He made his debut at Leicester Tigers and played for them as a flanker but a move to Nottingham in 1991 saw him convert to hooker. He rejected the offer of a trial for Wales.

He moved back to Leicester in 1996 where he became an understudy to Richard Cockerill. His form improved and he was noticed by England coach Clive Woodward during matches when Cockerill was away on international duty. This resulted in him being picked on the England bench for the 1998 match against France, coming on to replace Cockerill. The next week Cockerill was injured, but second-choice Mark Regan who had been injured for the match against France was fit again, so West was again selected on the bench, and came onto win his second cap.

Cockerill's loss of form would see West gradually replace him as first-choice hooker at Leicester, and West had another run of caps in the England starting line-up in 2001.