International Career
Ellis played for the England A, Under 16 Group and U18 Group schools sides. In fact, he played for the England U18 side when he was only 16.
Ellis was selected on England's 2004 summer tour as third choice scrum half behind Matt Dawson and Andy Gomarsall and did not play, however he made his England debut from the bench in their 32–16 win over the Springboks in autumn 2004. He also made an appearance as a replacement in the game against Australia.
Since then he has become a regular fixture in the England side, rotating with Matt Dawson during the 2005 Six Nations. Ellis scored his debut try for England in the 2005 Calcutta Cup win over Scotland. He lost out to Matt Dawson for the opening two Autumn tests in 2005 but took his chance superbly against Samoa, scoring an outstanding solo try in what was comfortably his best test match performance. This helped secured him the no 9 shirt for four games of the 2006 6 Nations.
He was left out of the Summer development tour to Australia, but was chosen again for the Elite Player England Squad for the 2006/2007 season. Ellis was not included in the 2006 Autumn internationals that saw England head coach Andy Robinson lose his job, but when Brian Ashton was appointed as his successor Ellis was named in the team to start England's 2007 Six Nations opener against Scotland. In this game Ellis came of age and it was arguably one of his best performances in an England shirt. He consistently retained his place throughout the 2007 Six Nations, starting in every game and scoring a try in the loss to Wales.
Ellis was ruled out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup due to the knee injury suffered in the Premiership.
He had a very successful 2009 Six Nations tournament, starting for England as a result of the ankle injury to Danny Care, and went on to score two tries in a man-of-the-match performance against Italy, where his opposite number was, unusually, Mauro Bergamasco. He started all subsequent Six Nations matches, where he played scrum-half to former team-mate Andy Goode, and then current team-mate Toby Flood's fly-half. His last game for England came in the Calcutta Cup win over Scotland.
His good form in the Six Nations contributed to him being picked for the 2009 British and Irish Lions tour, where he played as a substitute in the final Test win against the Springboks in Ellis Park.
Read more about this topic: Harry Ellis
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