Jon SLEIGHTHOLME

Bath winger Jon Sleightholme established himself at the top of the pecking order in the 1996 and 1997 seasons, winning 12 successive caps, but was then left out in the cold when the Clive Woodward era began. Jon's debut came in Paris in 1996 when he was chosen ahead of Damian Hopley, but the match saw England's first Championship defeat by France since 1988 when Thomas Castangeina scored a late drop goal. England then defeated both Wales and Scotland, but it became clear that this was not a vintage year and Will Carling's men were severely criticised by the press. However, Sleightholme scored his first international try against Ireland to help England to a 28-15 win which saw them nick the Championship from France.

Later in the year Jon scored another try in England's 34-19 defeat by the New Zealand Barbarians, though the match was not given cap status even though the opposition were virtually a full strength All Black side. Despite the criticism and indifferent performances of 1996, England began the 1997 Five Nations Championship in confident style and won their first two matches by record margins, with Sleightholme scoring a brace of tries in a 46-6 thrashing of Ireland in Dublin. In their next game at Twickenham, England seemingly had the French at their mercy when they raced into a 20-6 lead thanks to Lawrence Dallaglio's excellent try and Paul Grayson's accuracy with the boot. However, England inexplicably lost concentration in the second half and allowed the French to steal the game 23-20. England sealed the Triple Crown with victory over Wales, but in truth it was a season of unfulfilled promise. Jon played in just two more internationals on tour in Argentina, before realising that he had no part to play in the Clive Woodward regime. (Jon Collins)

1996 v Argentina (Twickenham) W 20-18