Ben Christopher Cohen, MBE (born 14 September 1978) is a former England rugby union player and activist. He began his professional career with Northampton Saints in 1996; in 2007 he moved to France to represent Brive before returning to England two years later to join Sale Sharks. Cohen was also a member of the England national team that won the 2003 Rugby World Cup. His main position was winger. In May 2011, Cohen retired from professional rugby, and will focus on The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation he created to combat homophobia and bullying.
Cohen was born in Northampton. He was educated at Kingsthorpe Upper School. (Kingsthorpe College as known today) This was not a rugby playing school and at age 12 he first started playing with Northampton Old Scouts RFC
Regarding his background, Cohen has stated, "My family's not Jewish, but a few generations back they used to be. I think it was my great-grandfather that married a non-Jewish girl and broke with tradition."