Simon Dalton Shaw was born in Nairobi, Kenya, on 1 September 1973 and educated at Runnymede College, Madrid, Godalming Sixth Form College, and the University of West of England. He played at lock for Bristol before joining Wasps where he was a member of their European Cup winning team in 2004. He played in the victorious Barbarian team against South Africa in 1994 two years before he was capped by England. However, by the end of the 2010/11 season he had played in 66 internationals for England. He had also toured on three occasions with the British Isles - to South Africa in 1997, as a replacement to New Zealand in 2005, and to South Africa again in 2009. His 19 appearances included two tries in the match against Northern Free State in 1997 and the second and third tests against South Africa in 2009.