Key Facts
| Squad | Leicester Tigers |
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| Position | Lock |
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| Age | 23 |
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| Height | 1.98m (6'6") |
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| Weight | 112kg (17st 8lb) |
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| Caps | 0 |
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There were no regrets for Graham Kitchener in choosing Worcester Warriors over Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, with whose academy he spent three years at Molineux. Graham, who won his first call for England Saxons in the 2010 Churchill Cup, is a product of Adams Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire, has won burgeoning representative honours and has played 14 times for Leicester Tigers since joining the club last season. He went on to become a try-scorer when the England midweek side beat the South African Barbarians South team 54-26 at Kimberley in June this year.
He appeared for North Midlands and England at U16 and U18 levels, appeared for his country’s U20 side and impressed for the Warriors Academy and in the Guinness A League, having been involved with the club since he was 14 years old.
Graham, who was born in Bromley, Kent, committed his future to the Warriors when signing a two-year contract extension in April 2009. He had already been on an academy deal.
He made 72 senior games for the Warriors and added to his Saxons’ appearances by playing in every match last year against Italy A, Ireland Wolfhounds and the USA and Tonga and scoring a Churchill Cup try in the third game at Northampton. It crowned his contribution to Worcester winning promotion back to the Aviva Premiership in May 2011.
His appearances for the Warriors include 23 in 2009-10 when he scored the third try of his career against the Scarlets in the LV=Cup. His others were in the previous season against Petrarca Rugby and London Irish after initially breaking through into the first team in November 2008.
He opted for the oval ball to concentrate on his school studies and reckoned that he would not have done his A level at Adams if he had still been with Wolves. Graham said: “I always knew deep down that it was going to be rugby for me because of my stature, the environment that I had at my school and my involvement with Worcester.”
Not many rugby players can say that they have appeared against Manchester United and Arsenal but Graham did when in Wolves Academy. He will never lose his love for the old gold of Wolverhampton either. “I still follow the club,” he added.
International Record
Uncapped
Last updated: June 18, 2012
