Simon Danielli

Simon Danielli

Full name	Simon Charles Jonathan Danielli
Date of birth	(1979-09-08) 8 September 1979
Place of birth	Edinburgh, Scotland
Height	6 ft 4.5 in (1.94 m)
Weight	16 st 1 lb (102 kg)
School	Cheltenham College
University	Oxford University
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing Current team Ulster Rugby Correct as of 19 October 2011

Simon Charles Jonathan Danielli (born 8 September 1979 in Edinburgh) is a retired rugby union player who plays on the wing for Ulster and Scotland.

Early life

Danielli - Italian family origin - was educated at Cheltenham College and achieved a Upper Second Class Degree in Philosophy and Theology at Oxford University (Trinity College). At Oxford he was awarded two rugby union Blues playing in the Varsity Match against Cambridge in 1999 and 2000.

Rugby 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 USA, when he scored two tries in a Scottish victory and went on to impress throughout the 2003 Rugby World Cup tournament. He also scored a try in his Murrayfield Six Nations debut against England in 2004.

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.

He dropped out of the international picture in 2005, but was recalled to the Scotland squad for the 2006 Six Nations championship. With the Borders club being disbanded by the SRU in 2007 Danielli moved to Ulster. He was also picked as part of the Scotland 2007 World Cup training squad.

He is currently playing for the Irish province Ulster, struggling 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 (against Italy in the Six Nations) 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. His try scoring feats for Ulster have not gone un-noticed with 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 makes him one of the most dangerous wingers in the Magners League. 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.

Ulster Rugby

Danielli signed for Ulster Rugby in the Summer of 2007. He had not played with to much confidence the season before with Bath and was hoping to enjoy Ulster. Simon joined Ulster at the start of the 2007/08 season from The Borders and is a regular in the match day squad.

Born in Edinburgh and educated at Cheltenham College and Oxford University where he studied Philosophy and Theology, Simon represented England at U21s and Student level before opting to play for Scotland.

He made his full International debut for the Scots against Italy in 2003, ahead of the start of the World Cup. He won first start for Scotland during that tournament against the USA and finished the game with two tries.

The 6' 4" winger has a deadly combination of size and speed that make him a constant threat. His appetite for work often sees him utilised in midfield as he comes off the wing looking for more involvement.

Scotland

Simon Charles Jonathan Danielli clearly enjoys Rugby World Cups. In the 2003 tournament in Australia he claimed three tries and in the 2011 competition in New Zealand he notched a crucial brace in the opening victory over Romania. Simon missed the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It would have been his second RWC, but he returned to Scotland duty as a replacement in the RBS Six Nations Championship match against Wales at the Millennium Stadium in February 2008, his first international since the 2005 match against Ireland. That international return was bracketed by two Scotland A games the same month – victories against the Italians (at Mogliano) and Ireland (at McDiarmid Park, Perth). He was recalled for his first start for more than three years when Scotland visited Italy for the final match of the RBS Six Nations Championship, but his appearance was cut short by injury early in the contest. He recovered in time to play in the first Test on the two-match tour to Argentina. Because of injury he could not be considered for the 2008 autumn Tests that year, but he was back in the Scotland XV for the Six Nations Championship match against France in Paris in February 2009. Two weeks later he scored his sixth international try when Scotland beat Italy 26-6 at Murrayfield. A brace in the last ten minutes of Scotland's opening RWC 2011 fixture against Romania brought the tally to eight. Simon made a try-scoring start to his Scotland career when he crossed in the comprehensive win against Italy in the 2003 RWC Countdown Test. In his first start of the 2003 Rugby World Cup, against the USA, he powered Scotland to victory with two tries – bringing his tally to four in as many caps. That match followed on from Scotland's first game in the tournament against Japan when he came on as a replacement and scored with his first touch of the ball. He also crossed the try-line in his Murrayfield Six Nations debut against England in February 2004, but he had to wait five years for his next international try (his sixth). However, injury curtailed his participation in the 2004 summer tour to Australia, limiting him to only outings against New South Wales Country and New South Wales Waratahs. He was in scoring mood also for Scotland A in the Barclays Churchill Cup in Canada in June 2006, with a try in each of the wins against England Saxons and Canada. He added to that tally in February 2007 with a try in the A international victory against Italy at McDiarmid Park, Perth. Later that year he played for Scotland A in two of the three Churchill Cup matches in England. Simon played for Scotland A against Ireland A in February 2010. While at Cheltenham College, Simon played for English Schools in season 1997-1998, scoring a try in the Hughenden international against Scottish Schools. He then had representative rugby England under-21 and England Students before opting to pursue his birth qualification with Scotland. He played in three University matches (1998-2000) and graduated from Oxford in philosophy and theology. Simon, who played full back at Cheltenham College, cites his best moment in club rugby as a try he scored for Bath against Leeds Tykes in 2001-2002. A former member of the Scottish Exiles squad, he joined Bath from rivals Bristol Shoguns in 2001 and moved to The Borders in three years later. He joined Ulster in summer 2007.

2007-08

Simon Danielli made his mark for Ulster scoring seven tries making him Ulster's top try scorer of 2007-08 however Ulster finished 9th in the table second from last.

Celtic League

Danielli made an impressive start to 2007-08 season with his first try coming against the Ospreys in which he played all 80 minutes. Ulster won that match 17-16 in the Ulster's first Celtic League game of the season. He then played in defeats against Edinburgh Rugby,Newport Gwent Dragons and the Scarlets. He played the match when Connacht Rugby were beaten 30-13 and against Edinburgh Rugby when Ulster lost 14-20. Ulster were then thrashed 29-0 by Leinster on boxing day. Then Ulster beat or hammered Newport Gwent Dragons 38-13 in which Danielli scored one try. Danielli played again in the win against the Scarlets but failed to score a try. IN a dramatic game which Glasgow Warriors eventually won 35-24 Danielli scored a try to send his season tally of tries to 6. Ulster then played against Cardiff Blues in the last Ulster game of the season which they lost 17-26 but Danielli scored a try.

Heineken Cup

Danielli started his Heineken Cup campaign with Ulster when the White men lost to Gloucester Rugby 32-14. He then scored a try in the next game against Bourgoin which Ulster lost to 24-17. He found the touch line again in a 48-17 loss to the Ospreys and again against the Ospreys in a 16-8 defeat. Danielli did not score in the last two games but featured in the good perfomances against Borgoin and Gloucester Rugby in which Ulster beat Borgoin but was just pipped to the post by Gloucester.

2008-09

Danielli scored 7 tries in this season 6 in the celtic league and 1 in the heineken cup. Ulster did not make the knockout phrases of the Heineken Cup and finished eighth in the Celtic league.

Celtic League

Danielli missed the start of 2008-09 due to injury but started in lightning scoring 2 tries as he came of the bench against Connacht Rugby when Ulster won 53-13. Danielli scored a try then as Ulster lost to the Dragons 26-16. He scored 2 more tries in the Celtic league that season.

External links

• Ulster profile
• Scotland profile