{"id":31559,"date":"2026-10-13T23:27:16","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T23:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=31559"},"modified":"2026-10-13T23:27:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T23:27:16","slug":"2003-rugby-world-cup-winner-shows-off-ridiculous-body-transformation-aged-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=31559","title":{"rendered":"2003 Rugby World Cup winner shows off ridiculous body transformation aged 50"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"article-blocks\">\n<p><b>England&#8217;s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Phil Vickery has undergone a remarkable body transformation, and his former teammates can hardly believe their eyes.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The legendary prop, now 50, has swapped scrums for bodybuilding, showing off an incredible physique after competing in a recent competition.<\/p>\n<p>Vickery shared pictures from the event on social media, looking absolutely shredded as he posed on stage.<\/p>\n<p>And judging by the reaction, all those hours in the gym have certainly paid off.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"heading-content\">World Cup winners react<\/h3>\n<p>The former England tighthead, affectionately known as &#8216;The Raging Bull&#8217;, revealed he had taken part in a competition organised by the Physical Culture Association.<\/p>\n<p>Writing on social media, Vickery explained that he had finally recovered enough from the event to share some pictures of his efforts.<\/p>\n<p>His extraordinary transformation quickly caught the attention of several familiar faces from the rugby world.<\/p>\n<p><iframe height=\"880\" title=\"embed\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DeaEwkNDjXz\/embed\" style=\"min-height:100px\" class=\"w-full max-w-sm mx-auto sm:max-w-none\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"first:font-bold md:text-lg text-base paragraph-content\">Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/rugby-news\/where-are-they-now-2003-england-rugby-world-cup-winning-xv-20-years-later\">lifted the Webb Ellis Cup alongside Vickery in 2003<\/a>, was particularly impressed.<\/div>\n<p>&#8220;Bloody hell mate. No wonder that was so tough. Fair play you colossus&#8230;.\ud83d\ude4c&#8221;<\/p>\n<div style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"first:font-bold md:text-lg text-base paragraph-content\">Fellow World Cup winner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/lewismoody7\/\">Lewis Moody<\/a> responded with a heart emoji, while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jameshaskell\/\">James Haskell<\/a> added four fire emojis.<\/div>\n<p>Former rugby player Sam Wolffenden also joined the congratulations, writing: &#8220;Well done mate smashed it come in sharp \ud83d\udc4f&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Dodge Woodall was equally impressed, commenting: &#8220;Massive respect on many levels \ud83d\udc4d\ud83c\udffc\u2692\ufe0f&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"heading-content\">From World Cup winner to bodybuilder<\/h3>\n<p>Vickery was one of England&#8217;s most formidable forwards during a glittering career that included 73 international caps.<\/p>\n<div style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"first:font-bold md:text-lg text-base paragraph-content\">He was part of Sir Clive Woodward&#8217;s legendary squad that beat Australia in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/rugby-news\/5-10-how-the-england-players-rated-for-2003-world-cup-triumph\">2003 Rugby World Cup final<\/a> in Sydney.<\/div>\n<p>Four years later, he captained England during their remarkable run to another World Cup final in France.<\/p>\n<p>At club level, he represented Gloucester and Wasps, earning a reputation as one of the toughest tightheads in the game.<\/p>\n<p>He eventually retired in 2010 after a series of neck injuries.<\/p>\n<div style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"first:font-bold md:text-lg text-base paragraph-content\">Bodybuilding is nothing new for Vickery, who previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/rugby-news\/englands-2003-rugby-world-cup-hero-looks-completely-unrecognisable-now\">shed around six stone<\/a> after deciding to overhaul his fitness.<\/div>\n<p>The former British &amp; Irish Lions star even secured a third-place finish at the 2024 UK Ultimate Physiques British Open Championships.<\/p>\n<p>More than two decades after England&#8217;s greatest rugby triumph, Vickery is proving there&#8217;s still plenty of life in the Raging Bull.<\/p>\n<p>And judging by those pictures, you probably wouldn&#8217;t fancy packing down against him now, either.<\/p>\n<div style=\"word-break:break-word\" class=\"first:font-bold md:text-lg text-base paragraph-content\">READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/rugby-news\/2003-rugby-world-cup-team-of-the-tournament-where-are-they-now-2\">2003 Rugby World Cup Team of the Tournament: Where are they now?<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruck.co.uk\/rugby-news\/2003-rugby-world-cup-winner-shows-off-ridiculous-body-transformation-aged-50\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>England&#8217;s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Phil Vickery has undergone a remarkable body transformation, and his former teammates can hardly believe their eyes. The legendary prop, now 50, has swapped scrums for bodybuilding, showing off an incredible physique after competing in a recent competition. Vickery shared pictures from the event on social media, looking absolutely [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":31560,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>2003 Rugby World Cup winner shows off ridiculous body transformation aged 50 - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=31559\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2003 Rugby World Cup winner shows off ridiculous body transformation aged 50 - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"England&#8217;s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Phil Vickery has undergone a remarkable body transformation, and his former teammates can hardly believe their eyes. 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