Victor Ubogu


Victor Eriakpo Ubogu is a former Bath and England rugby union player.
He came to the UK from Lagos, Nigeria in 1977 and attended West Buckland School in Devon where he received the school's top award, the . While at school he played for England Under 18s. He went on to the University of Birmingham to study Chemical engineering. While at university he played for Moseley. He went on to St Anne's College, Oxford where he was selected to play for the University of Oxford RFC and achieved his Blue. After leaving Oxford he joined Bath Rugby. He started for Bath in the victorious 1998 Heineken Cup Final as they defeated Brive. In 1992 he became a prop for the England national rugby union team where he remained until 1999.
Combining the size and strength typical of a prop with unusual speed for a player specializing in this position, Ubogu was often a highly effective ball-carrier in broken play. Against well-drilled international defences he sometimes lacked penetration, but he frequently embarrassed club-level opposition.
Ubogo founded the "Shoeless Joe's" chain of sports bars.
In 2001, Ubogu appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.
Since 2004 he has run a successful, high-end travel and sporting hospitality company, using his initials as its name.