Alexander Marshall Waller (born 14 February 1990) is a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player for Premiership side

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

Club career

Born in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

, Waller is a product of the

Academy and made his debut in November 2009 against the

Ospreys The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. Waller soon established himself in the Saints' first team and featured in their double winning season five years after hit first run out in a Saints shirt. The young prop began both the

European Rugby Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

and

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

finals on the bench but came on at Twickenham to score the Premiership winning try in extra time as Saints beat

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

to claim the title. Since then Waller has become a regular fixture in the Saints team and in the 2017/18 racked up his 150th consecutive appearance in the

to take the title for the most consecutive appearances in the league’s history. Waller also turned out for his 200th appearance in a Saints shirt that season. Most recently Waller helped Saints secure European Champions Cup rugby for 2017/18 as Saints beat

Stade Francais Stade (), officially the Hanseatic City of Stade (german: Hansestadt Stade, nds, Hansestadt Stood) is a city in Lower Saxony in northern Germany. First mentioned in records in 934, it is the seat of the district () which bears its name. It is l ...

in the European Champions Cup play-off final to claim the last spot in the top-tier of Europe for next season.

International career

In January 2014 he was named as an injury replacement in the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad for the game against the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

. The call up marked his first inclusion in any of England's representative teams. He made his debut in the match as the Saxons slipped to a 14–8 defeat, and earned a second cap the following week against Scotland A. In May that year, Waller was among a group of 16 players called up after the Premiership Final to join up with the senior

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

squad for the three Test summer tour of New Zealand. Waller was named on the bench for the non-capped England XV game against the Barbarians on 31 May 2015.

Honours

;Northampton Saints * Premiership: 2013–14 (winners) *

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

: 2013–14 (winners)

References

External links

Alex Waller profile
at Northampton Saints {{DEFAULTSORT:Waller, Alex 1990 births Living people Rugby union players from Kettering English rugby union players Rugby union props Northampton Saints players People educated at Wellingborough School