Billy Walker (b. 1996) is a rugby union tighthead prop, currently playing for Cambridge RFC. He has previously played for premiership team

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 ...

, and has U18 and U20 English international honours.

Youth and amateur career

Walker's first rugby was played at local Chelmsford RFC, in their most junior youth team, the U6s, where he was coached by his father, playing with Chelmsford up to U16. He would also play for Essex county between U13 & U14s. He was identified for the Saracens junior academy at the age of 14, where he would do a weekly training session until the age of 16, before moving to more full time training with the senior academy. His first year of senior rugby was played with

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

, then in National league 2, where he praised the benefits of playing against older players and being educated in "the tricks of the trade".

Professional career

On turning 19, Walker moved to play a season with Saracens' dual registration team, Bedford Blues, in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

. He would also play games with National League 2 team Ampthill, one of two players to act as a trial use of Ampthill as a dual-registration side. In early 2016 Walker ruptured his

plantar plate In the human foot, the plantar or volar plates (also called plantar or volar ligaments) are fibrocartilaginous structures found in the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) and interphalangeal (IP) joints. The anatomy and composition of the plantar plates ar ...

in his foot and was out of action for 4 months after undergoing surgery. In November 2016 Walker played his 1st team Saracens debut against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

, in the LV Cup, after being picked but not played the previous week against

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

. Alongside scattered 1st team games, Walker played the 2017/18 season with Old Albanians. He would also gain a Business Planning Foundation degree. At the end of the 2018/19 season, Walker announced his move to Nottingham RFC, in order to guarantee regular 1st team gameplay.

International career

Walker was selected for the England U18 team and played his debut against France before playing in all games of the 3-match tour to South Africa. After missing the U20 6 nations due to his ruptured plantar plate, he was able to return to training a month earlier than anticipated, making him eligible to be picked for the U20 world championship. He would perform successfully, including playing in the final defeating Ireland to win the tournament.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Billy 1996 births Living people Cambridge R.U.F.C. players