Phil Larder was an integral part of the backroom staff behind England's 2003 World Cup triumph.

Larder began his playing career at centre for Manchester club side Broughton Park before signing for Sale. He then decided to transfer cross-code to rugby league, where he played for Oldham and later Whitehaven.

Larder then took the decision to pursue a career in rugby league coaching where he became head coach for the Widnes Vikings, Keighley Cougars and then the Sheffield Eagles. His fine performances led him to take charge of the England rugby league team at the 1995 World Cup and then the Great Britain and Ireland side on the 1996 tour of New Zealand.

Larder then moved to rugby union, first coaching at Sale before working with the Leicester Tigers. The tough Lancastrian applied his experience of league defensive patterns and techniques to the code of union with huge success.

Larder worked the Tigers during a four-year Premiership winning run and helped them to back-to-back Heineken Cup victories in 2001 and 2002. Larder then went on to help England and played a key part in their 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph. Alongside his national side duties, Larder went on the 2001 and 2005 British and Irish Lions tours as defence coach.

Larder was part of the England set-up until his dismissal, along with Dave Alred and Joe Lydon, in April 2006 following a disappointing Six Nations campaign. Larder went on to work with the Worcester Warriors during their 2006-07 campaign and helped improve their defence dramatically. In June 2011, Worcester announced Larder would be returning to Sixways as defence coach alongside head coach Richard Hill and forwards coach Phil Davies.