Michael Lipman
Encyclopedia
Michael Lipman is an English rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 footballer, who plays at Flanker
Flanker (rugby union)
A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...

, and is contracted to the Melbourne Rebels
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia...

.

Lipman has also played at International level for England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

.

Early career in Australia

Lipman was born in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 but was brought up in New South Wales, Australia.

He played for the under 21 New South Wales and Australian teams, and played for the Warringah rugby club.

Lipman played for Waratahs
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs are an Australian rugby union football team, representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super 15 Super Rugby competition...

 'B' but was unable to secure a contract.

Domestic career in England

He joined the Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby
Bristol Rugby is a rugby union club based in Bristol, England. The club currently plays in the RFU Championship and competes in the British and Irish Cup. They rely in large part on the many junior rugby clubs in the region, particularly those from 'the Combination'...

 club in the summer of 2001 and played in the Zurich Premiership during the 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons, earning 21 games in total.

After Bristol were relegated in the 2002/03 season, Lipman signed for Bath.

In 2003 where he played over twenty games for Bath throughout the 2003/04 season, including Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

 games. The following season he played 19 games, scoring three tries throughout that season. He missed the end of the season after rupturing a tendon in his ankle in February 2005. He had less game time throughout the 2005-06 season, due to a double fracture of his cheekbone and eye socket which was sustained in a pre-season win over Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Chiefs
Exeter Rugby Club are a rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon.The Exeter club was formed around 1871 and played its first match in 1873. The first team has been rebranded as the Exeter Chiefs and play in a strip of Black , White ....

 in August 2005.

After sustaining injuries in late 2006, Michael Lipman threw himself into community work during his time out of action, and his cheerful and committed attitude won him the Community Player of the Year award for 2006/07.

He was unavailable until January 2007, but marked his return by scoring a try against Montpellier
Montpellier Hérault RC
Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club is a professional French rugby union, based in Montpellier the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, in the Top 14. They originally played at Stade Sabathé but moved to the Stade Yves-du-Manoir in 2007...

 in the European Challenge Cup
European Challenge Cup
The European Challenge Cup, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Amlin Challenge Cup, is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup. The cup was known as the Parker Pen Shield from 2001 to 2003 and Parker Pen Challenge Cup from 2003 to 2005. The European...

, and finished the season back as the first choice 7, and in the England Saxons
England Saxons
England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A...

 squad for the 2007 Churchill Cup
2007 Churchill Cup
The 2007 Churchill Cup was held from May 18 to June 2, 2007. It was the fifth year of the Churchill Cup. Six rugby union teams took part: Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, New Zealand Māori, Scotland A, and the USA.-Format:...

.

During the 2007-08 season he brought up the 100 cap milestone of appearances for Bath Rugby and played in the final of the 2007–08 European Challenge Cup.

He was joint-captain with Alex Crockett
Alex Crockett
Alex Crockett is an English rugby union player. Crockett plays as a Centre.-Bath Rugby:Crockett started his professional career at Bath....

 for the 2008-09 season.

International career

Lipman was selected to be a member of the Senior 2004 summer tour of Australasia
2004 England rugby union tour of Australasia
-Matches:-Forwards:...

. He made his debut for England
England national rugby union team
The England national rugby union team represents England in rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Wales. They have won this championship on 26 occasions, 12 times winning the Grand Slam, making them the most successful team in...

 against New Zealand.

Lipman had a great 2005-06 season despite the injuries in early 2005. His form saw him selected for England's 2006 summer tour of Australia
2006 England rugby union tour of Australia
-Matches:-Backs:I Balshaw , M Van Gisbergen , J Simpson-Daniel , T Varndell , T Voyce , J Noon , M Tait , S Abbott , M Catt , O Barkley , A Goode , S Bemand , P Richards , N Walshe .-Forwards:G Chuter , L Mears , A Titterrell , T...

 to contest the Cook Cup
Cook Cup
The Cook Cup is a rugby union trophy that is contested between Australia and England. Australia won the first ever Cook Cup match against England. The cup was established in 1997 when the Wallabies and England contracted to play each other bi-annually for a decade, playing matches on a home and...

.

He made his first start in the second Test
Test match (rugby union)
Test match in rugby union is a match recognised as being a full international match by at least one of the participating teams' governing bodies. It is an unofficial but widely used term in the sport....

 at Docklands Stadium, Melbourne. In August 2006 he was included in England's Elite Player Squad for the 2006-07 season.

The 2007-08 season saw Lipman’s continued re-emergence on both the international and domestic front. He practically made the number seven shirt his own that season and his excellent form for Bath Rugby was rewarded with a call-up into England’s squad for the 2008 Six Nations
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th...

, winning him four caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 against Italy
Italy national rugby union team
The Italy national rugby union team represent the nation of Italy in the sport of rugby union. The team is also known as the Azzurri . Italy have been playing international rugby since the late 1920s, and since 2000 compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland,...

, France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...

, Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 and Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...

. He had previously won 3 caps for England.

He started for England at 7 against New Zealand on the All Blacks' Grand Slam tour of 2008 in the 2008 end of year rugby tests
2008 end of year rugby tests
The 2008 end of year rugby tests, also known as the Autumn internationals saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, the Pacific Islanders and Canada tour the northern hemisphere. The tour ended with the traditional 'final challenge' Barbarians match, against Australia, which was the...

, his tenth and final International appearance.

Controversy

Michael Lipman resigned from Bath
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...

 along with Alex Crockett
Alex Crockett
Alex Crockett is an English rugby union player. Crockett plays as a Centre.-Bath Rugby:Crockett started his professional career at Bath....

 and Andrew Higgins on 1 June 2009 in controversial circumstances amid allegations of refusing to take drug tests which the players deny. The RFU announced on 17 June that they would face an RFU disciplinary panel charged with "conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game".

Return to Australia

In April 2010 he was named in the starting side for Warringah
Warringah Rugby Club
Warringah Rugby Club is a rugby union club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, New South Wales. Only located 25 km from the city centre, the club is close to many magnificent beaches, the Sydney Academy of Sport and Narrabeen Lake. The club currently competes in the New South Wales Rugby...

 in New South Wales' Tooheys New Shute Shield
Shute Shield
The Shute Shield is a rugby union competition in Sydney, New South Wales. It is the premier grade rugby trophy in NSW rugby. The Shute Shield is awarded at the end of the Sydney Club Rugby season to the team that wins the Grand Final...

.

On 24 May, the Melbourne Rebels
Melbourne Rebels
The Melbourne Rebels are a professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They made their debut in SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. They are the first privately owned professional rugby union team in Australia...

 announced that they had signed Michael Lipman along with Cooper Vuna
Cooper Vuna
Kerry Cooper Vuna is a professional rugby union player. He played league, on the wing for the Newcastle Knights , before switching to rugby union to play wing for the Melbourne Rebels.-Early years:...

 of the Newcastle Knights
Newcastle Knights
The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. They compete in Australasia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League premiership...

.

External links

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