Who is Henry Slade: Ten things you should know about the England centre

Henry Slade has become a regular for Exeter Chiefs and England, winning trophies with both club and country.

Ten things you should know about Henry Slade

1. Henry Slade was born on 19 March 1993 in Plymouth, England. He stands at 6ft 3in (1.91m) and weighs 15st 6lb (98kg).

2. He joined the Exeter Chiefs set-up since 2011 and has also turned out for Plymouth Albion.

A versatile player, he started out as a fly-half but has settled into midfield in senior rugby, playing both inside- and outside-centre.

3. Slade played for England’s age-grade teams and won his first senior cap in 2015 against France.

4. He has won the Six Nations and Autumn Nations Cup with England as well as lifting the Gallagher Premiership and European Champions Cup trophies with Exeter.

5. Slade has spoken about the OCD-type processes he has followed. However, he told Rugby World in 2021 that he’s made progress on reining them in: “I talked about my concerns with Matt Thombs, a psychologist, and he talked about it logically.

“For example, me turning off a light switch is not going to have any impact or shift on the universe that means I’ll get injured in the next game or something bad will happen to my family.

“Thinking logically about it, it won’t have any effect at all, so I tried doing things in training and then taking steps in games and everything went well. There are still a few bits I do but I’m way better. I’m definitely making progress with it.”

6. Slade is the great nephew of former Portsmouth footballer Geoff Williamson.

7. Slade has Type-1 diabetes and has spoken openly about having the condition. He told Health Awareness: “It’s frustrating having diabetes, but it doesn’t stop you doing anything. You can do whatever you want, it’s just about having control.

“It shouldn’t limit you any way physically. It’s not going to affect how fast you can run or how strong you are. It’s just a matter of controlling it. If you can do that, then there’s nothing you can’t do.”

8. Slade and his partner Megan have a daughter, Olive, together.

9. Slade played in both the 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cups, helping England to the final in the latter.

10. He studied for a Sports and Exercise Science degree at the University of Exeter.

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