Simon Danielli


Simon Charles Jonathan Danielli is a Scottish former rugby union footballer who played on the wing for Ulster and Scotland.

Early life

Danielli who is of Italian descent, was educated at Cheltenham College and achieved an Upper Second Class Degree in Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University. During his time at Oxford he was awarded two rugby union Blues playing in the Varsity Match against Cambridge in 1999 and 2000.

Club career

Danielli joined The Borders from Bath in September 2004, where he had been since the summer of 2001, prior to which he played for Bristol Shoguns.
With the Borders club being disbanded by the SRU in 2007 Danielli moved to Ulster. His try scoring feats for Ulster did not go un-noticed with the IRB stating he was close to making the IRB player of the year list in 2009. His rate of nearly a try every two games made him one of the most dangerous wingers in the Magners League.

International career

Danielli represented England Students and Under 21s. However, in January 2003 he opted to play for Scotland. He made his international debut against Italy during the World Cup warm-up match in August 2003 scoring a try. In his first start of the 2003 Rugby World Cup against the US, when he scored two tries in a Scottish victory and went on to impress throughout the 2003 World Cup tournament. He also scored a try in his Murrayfield Six Nations debut against England in 2004.
He dropped out of the international picture in 2005, but was recalled to the Scotland squad for the 2006 Six Nations championship. He was also picked as part of the Scotland 2007 World Cup training squad. He struggled to regularly break into the Scottish first-fifteen due to competition from the likes of the Lamont brothers and Chris Paterson.
However, he returned to the international scene on 28 February 2009 with a try-scoring man of the match performance. He would continue to start throughout this campaign. After injury he returned to the Scotland team again for the match against Italy during the 2010 Six Nations Championship.
Despite Danielli having few starts for Scotland in the run up to the 2011 Rugby World Cup he started in Scotland's opening game against Romania, scoring two tries in the 75th and 78th minutes saving Scotland from an embarrassing defeat.

Retirement

Danielli announced his retirement from professional rugby on 10 May 2012, after an injury disrupted 2011–12 season where he has failed to achieve fitness after a series of back injuries.