AS part of the fabled Holy Trinity which struck fear into the world’s best packs, rugby union legend Neil Back would take on all-comers.

Now he is set to face 570 “opponents” as the star of a sell-out York lunch next week.

Back, whose partnership with Lawrence Dallaglio and Richard Hill helped England to capture the Rugby World Cup in 2003, is the key speaker at the York Sportsmans Lunch at York Racecourse on Thursday.

Now head coach of Leeds Carnegie, Back will be joined by director of rugby Andy Key in addressing one of the most popular sporting gatherings in the city.

His appearance is yet another coup for the popular lunch, which is staged by York event specialists Sporting Connexions.

Back follows the likes of Sean Fitzpatrick, Martin Johnson, Francois Pienaar and, last year, David Campese, and he will talk about his career and his current role at Headingley.

Back’s career was star-studded. An openside flanker, he starred for a Leicester Tigers side which dominated domestically. He won back-to-back European Cups and five caps for the British & Irish Lions.

Retiring as a player, he had a stint as Leicester’s defensive coach and also the coach of academy and reserve team forwards before signing for Leeds in 2008.

Promoted at the first attempt, Back has kept a team renowned for yo-yoing between divisions up among the Aviva Premiership elite.

This year’s lunch, which is celebrating Yorkshire as its theme, will also have soldiers from the Yorkshire Regiment joining the mix of attendees – many of whom are sporting stars in their own right – and will toast their efforts.

Organiser Mark Pepper, of Sporting Connexions, who along with Nick Elliot is behind the lunch, said the success of the annual event continued to both astound and delight.

“The main honour we have been paid is that people came to us this year asking if they could have a table,” he said. “In what are difficult economic times, we are seriously proud that people think so highly of the lunch.”