Martin Edward Corry MBE (born 12^th October 1973) is a retired English rugby union player who played at a number eight, blindside flanker or lock for Bristol, Leicester Tigers and represented England and the British and Irish Lions. He is a World Cup winner

 Born in Birmingham, Corry was educated at Tunbridge Wells Grammer School and the University of Northumbria, and first played rugby union for Tunbridge Wells minis and the first team before joining Newcastle Gosforth and later Bristol. He broke his contract at Bristol to move to Leicester Tigers in 1997. 

Corry was one of Leicester’s key forwards for several seasons and an integral part of Leicester Tigers’ success over the period he played, and was the club’s captain during his time there. 

He made his England debut against Argentina on the 1997 tour.

Because of his ability to play either at lock, blindside or number 8, he was often selected as a replacement and used as an impact substitute. 

In 2001 he was called up to the British and Irish Lions side after the tour had started, due to injury to Neil Back, and replaced the injured Richard Hill in the second test before starting the third test in the absence of Hill.

His subsequent international form was varied, after playing in the delayed Six Nations decider in Dublin in October 2001, Corry missed out on the Autumn internationals but was a bench replacement for the 2002 Six Nations. He confirmed his selection for Clive Woodwards’s Rugby World Cup squad in a highly competitive back row area with a strong late run in England’s warm up matches, he performed well in the 43-9 defeat of Wales at the Millennium Stadium in late Summer of 2003 and then again in the September defeat of France at Twickenham. He was part of England’s 2003 World Cup-winning squad, chosen ahead of team-mate Graham Rowntree. During the 2003 Rugby World Cup, Corry flew home from Australia for the birth of his first child, daughter Eve. He rejoined the squad days later and played in England’s victory over Uruguay.

In 2005 he was named as England Captain for the Six Nations match against Italy and Scotland, in the absence of Jason Robinson.

In the summer he was selected for his second Lions tour, this time travelling to New Zealand, and was vice-captain for the first test. He went on to captain the team from the 2nd minute onwards when Brian O’Driscall was injured in a spear tackle incident. However, he was dropped for the final two tests in favour of Ryan Jones.

He was again selected as England’s captain for the 2005 autumn internationals and 2006 Six Nations tournament. He continued as captain for the Autumn Internationals of 2006, in which England lost to  Argentina, South Africa & New Zealand. Following these results, England Head coach Andy Robinson was replaced by Brian Ashton. In his first squad selection as England coach, Ashton named Corry in the starting line-up for the 2007 Six Nations opening game against Scotland, though he was replaced as captain by Phil Vickery. Corry remained in the side as the tournament progressed, but in the final two games of the tournament against France and Wales he was moved to lock.

In 2007, Corry formed part of the Brian Ashton’s Rugby World Cup squad in which England made their way to the Final in Paris but were unable to defend their world title, losing to South Africa. The following year, Corry announced his retirement from international rugby at the age of 34

In May 2009, Corry announced his was retiring at the end of the 2008/2009 season. He captained the Barbarians again England at Twickenham on the 30^th May 2009, to a 33-26 victory.

Martin Corry  played in 279  senior club games scoring 115 points

For England 64 caps scoring 30 points, British and Irish lions 7 caps  and the Barbarians 5 caps scoring 5 points