Christopher James Harris (born 28 December 1990) is a rugby union player who plays centre for Gloucester in Premiership Rugby and for Scotland.

Early life and education

Harris was born in Cumbria, England, and attended Trinity School, Carlisle. He played rugby whilst young at Carlisle rugby club. He married long time girlfriend Ruby Wilkinson on 13 August 2022. He studied at

Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = � ...

, gaining a 2:1 BSc in Architectural Technology in 2013.

Rugby playing career

Club

Harris was dual registered with

Tynedale RFC Tynedale RFC is a rugby union team based in Corbridge, Northumberland in North East England. The club was relegated from National League 1 in 2015, the third tier of the English rugby union system and have played in National League 2 North s ...

in National League 1 and also had a loan spell with

Rotherham Titans Rotherham Rugby Union Football Club, or Rotherham Titans is a professional rugby union team from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, currently playing in the fourth tier of the English rugby union league system, following their relegation from t ...

in the Championship. In October 2014 Harris made his professional debut for the Newcastle Falcons, scoring a try against

București Wolves The Romanian Wolves ( Romanian: ''Lupii României'') is a professional Romanian rugby union team that competes annually in the Eastern Conference of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, alongside RC Batumi and The Black Lion of Georgia as well as Tel ...

in the

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 ...

. In December 2014, Harris scored two tries on his Premiership debut against

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 ...

. With the Falcons being relegated, Harris joined Gloucester for the start of the 2019-20 season

International

In June 2013, Harris scored a try for England Counties XV against Belgium. In October 2017, Harris received his first call up to the senior Scotland squad by coach Gregor Townsend for the Autumn Internationals. Harris is Scottish qualified through his Edinburgh born grandmother. On 11 November 2017, Harris made his test debut at Murrayfield against Samoa. Harris started in the first Six Nations game against Wales in 2018. He scored his first try for Scotland in a game vs Italy 2019 Six Nations, scoring just minutes after making an appearance off the bench and scored the winning try for Scotland against France at Murrayfield. He appeared for Scotland in the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

fixtures and continued his form to play in every match for

2020 Six Nations The 2020 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 21st Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

. Harris played in all five matches of the

2021 Six Nations The 2021 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, ...

, including stirring away victories at both Twickenham and in Paris. Gregor Townsend said that Harris was one of Scotland's "defensive leaders." In 2023 Harris was selected in Scotland's 33 player squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

in France.

British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa, 2021

Harris was selected in the starting line-up for the second Test match.

International statistics

References

External links

*
profile
at Gloucester Rugby
Newcastle Falcons Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Chris 1990 births Living people Alumni of Northumbria University English people of Scottish descent Gloucester Rugby players Newcastle Falcons players Rotherham Titans players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Carlisle, Cumbria Scotland international rugby union players Scottish rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Scotland 2019 Rugby World Cup players 2023 Rugby World Cup players