David Kipling Denton (born 5 February 1990) is a retired Zimbabwean-born Scottish

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. He played in the back row, but could also play in the second row, and represented

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

and

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

in England, and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

internationally.

Background

Denton was born in Zimbabwe, and qualified for Scotland as his mother was born in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. He attended

Peterhouse Boys School , location = , province = Mashonaland East , country = Zimbabwe , coordinates = , type = Independent, boarding, high school , denomination = Anglican , patron = Saint Peter , founded = 1955 , founder = Fred Snell , sister_school = ...

in Zimbabwe, before moving to Kingswood College in the Eastern Cape in South Africa, where he made several appearances for Eastern Province in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

Club career

He moved to Edinburgh to study economics at the University of Edinburgh. While at university he played for

Edinburgh Academicals The Edinburgh Academical Football Club, also known as Edinburgh Accies, is a rugby union club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The club is currently a member of the Scottish Premiership, the top tier of Scottish club rugby. Its home ground is Raeburn Pl ...

. Although he struggled to begin with, playing in the 3rd XV for much of his first season, he advanced into the Accies' 2nd team, "TWAYS", under the tutelage of Malcolm McVie. He was brought into the Scotland under-20s set-up before playing for the Scottish National Academy. He was then awarded a professional contract at Edinburgh for the 2010–11 season. His performances in his debut season lead him to being selected for Scotland's extended World Cup squad in the build-up to the showpiece. As well as his defensive capabilities, Denton is known to be an effective ball carrier due to his strength and agility (particularly for a man of his size — 1.96m and 119 kg). In December 2013, Denton ended speculation about his future (which had seen him linked with a move to the

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 ...

) by signing a contract extension which saw him remain at Murrayfield until 2015. On 10 November 2015, Denton signed for English club

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

who compete in the

from the 2015–16 season. On 30 May 2017, it was announced Denton would move from Bath to local rivals

for the 2017-18 season. On 14 February 2018

announced the signing of Denton from Worcester for the 2018–19 season. Denton was forced to retire from rugby due to

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

in September 2019.

International career

Denton made his debut for

, coming on off the bench in the 10–6 win over

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in August 2011. However, he was not named in the final squad for the tournament. He also appeared in all of Scotland's under-20 side's games in 2010, five games in the 2010 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and in the

IRB Junior World Championship The World Rugby Under 20 Championship (known as the IRB Junior World Championship until 2014) is an international rugby union competition. The event is organised by the sport's governing body, World Rugby, and is contested by 12 men's junior nat ...

. He has appeared for the Scottish Sevens team in 2010 in the Dubai and George events. Denton won the "man of the match" award, despite being on the losing side, in Scotland's 6–13 defeat to England in the opening game of the 6 Nations on 4 February 2012. Denton was "Man of the Match" in the 6 Nations match against France on 8 March 2014 despite being on the losing side. Following the announcement of the 6 Nations Squad for the 2018 tournament, Denton was recalled back into the team after a notable absence from the Scotland side since the summer tour of Japan in 2016.

References

External links

Profile at edinburghrugby.org

Profile at scotlandrugbyteam.org
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denton, David 1990 births Living people Scottish rugby union players Zimbabwean people of Scottish descent Scotland international rugby union players Edinburgh Rugby players Rugby union number eights Zimbabwean emigrants to the United Kingdom Zimbabwean rugby union players Scotland international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Leicester Tigers players Alumni of Kingswood College (South Africa)