Gabriel Oluwatimilehin Kayode Ibitoye (born 5 March 1998) is an English professional

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

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

Premiership Rugby 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 ...

. His primary position is

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

Career

Ibitoye began playing rugby at Trinity School aged eleven. Initially a forward, he later moved to the centres and then

. His first club was Bromley R.F.C. In 2015 and 2016 Ibitoye represented the England under-18 team. He was a member of the squad that completed a grand slam in the

2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, was the 10th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Wales were the defending champions. The competition was won by England, who comple ...

. Later that year he scored tries against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during the pool stage of the

2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2017 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the tenth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in Georgia by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournament, ...

. He started in the final of the tournament as England were defeated by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Ibitoye competed in the 2018 U20 Six Nations scoring in their last fixture against

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 ...

. He was included in the squad for the

2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eleventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournamen ...

and scored two tries in a victory over

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 ...

. He started in the junior world cup final for a consecutive year as England finished runners up to hosts

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. In February 2018 Ibitoye was called up by coach Eddie Jones to train with the senior squad. Ibitoye joined Harlequins academy at the age of twelve. He made his club debut in November 2017 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 ...

. In July 2020 it was confirmed that Ibitoye would leave quins to join

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

side

Agen The communes of France, commune of Agen (, ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. ...

on a two-year deal starting from the 2020–21 season. However, he was granted mutual release from the club where he instead signed for

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

as a medical joker for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. Following the end of his contract at Montpellier, he signed with Israeli side

Tel Aviv Heat The Tel Aviv Heat () is the first professional Israeli rugby union team. Based in Tel Aviv, the team competes annually in the Eastern Conference of the Rugby Europe Super Cup, alongside RC Batumi and The Black Lion of Georgia as well as the Roma ...

. Ibitoye was signed by

for the 2022–2023 season.

References

1998 births Living people English rugby union players category:Esher RFC players Harlequin F.C. players Rugby union players from the London Borough of Lambeth Rugby union wings SU Agen Lot-et-Garonne players Montpellier Hérault Rugby players Tel Aviv Heat players Expatriate rugby union players in Israel Bristol Bears players English expatriate rugby union players in France English expatriate sportspeople in Israel Black British sportsmen People from Lambeth {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub