Ian Clark (born 1 September 1992) is an English semi-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 it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

player who plays as a . A prolific try scorer during his time at

Hartpury College Hartpury University and Hartpury College, formerly Hartpury College, is a provider of further and higher education which describes itself as specialising in the "agriculture, animal, equine, sport and veterinary nursing" sectors. The university a ...

, he has also had a number of cup appearances for

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 ...

. After a spell playing

Ian is currently back playing union for Clifton.

Rugby career

Born in Bristol, England, Ian attended

Colston's School Collegiate School (formerly known as Colston's Collegiate School and Colston’s School) is an independent day school in Bristol, England, and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It is currently in a period of transit ...

until year 11 where his ability in school rugby union saw him progress on to

for sixth form, helping the College win back-to-back Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) league titles. While at Hartpury College he was signed by Premiership side

as part of their academy and was dual registered with

men's team, allowing him to combine league rugby with his studies. Ian would begin his adult career playing for Hartpury College in the 2011–12

National League 2 South National League 2 South (known before September 2009 as National Division Three South) was a level four league in the English rugby union system until the end of season 2021–22. It was one of two leagues at this level, with its counterpart, ...

season and he had an outstanding debut year, scoring 27 tries to become the divisions top try scorer and helping the club to 4th in the league. He also made his first team competitive debut for Gloucester in the second part of the season, making an instant impression with two tries in a 15 – 23 defeat away to

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

in the LV Cup. The final highlight of an excellent season saw Ian head to

Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium () in Twickenham, south-west London, England, is a rugby union stadium owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), English rugby union governing body, which has its headquarters there. The England national rugby union team plays ...

as part of the Hartpury College student team for the 2012 BUCS Cup. He contributed two tries in a 45 – 20 win for Hartpury over

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

. During the summer of 2012 Ian appeared for Gloucester in the 2012 JP Morgan Premiership Sevens in which he was the competition's top scorer with 10 tries in a Gloucester side that finished as runners up. Despite his excellent scoring record at the competition he was loaned back to Hartpury College for another season in National League 2 South, helping the club to go one better than the previous season, finishing 3rd, with Ian getting 20 tries and once more being the division's top try scorer (he was the joint top scorer but played less games). He also made several appearances for Gloucester in 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 LV Cup. Although he had made several appearances for Gloucester, Ian left the club to join

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

who were playing in

National League 1 National One (last season known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Leagu ...

(a division higher than the league Hartpury College were in). Despite a decent try scoring record of 4 tries in just 6 appearances in the league, Ian was unable to gain a regular spot in the Coventry team and left at the end of the season, to rejoin old team

whose student side he had helped to another BUCS cup final victory while still at Cov. After competing in sevens rugby with Harlequins during the summer Ian switched codes to play

with the

Gloucestershire All Golds Gloucestershire All Golds is a rugby league team based at the University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. University of Gloucestershire All Golds consists of six different teams, with the first team entering Kingstone Press ...

. After a spell in rugby league he joined Clifton based in his home town of

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, playing in National League 2 South for the 2015–16 season scoring a try on his debut against Redingensians.

Rugby Union honours

School/University Rugby *AASE League champions with

(2 times): 2010, 2011 * BUCS Cup winners (2 times): 2012, 2014 Hartpury College *

top try scorer (27 tries): 2011–12 *

top try scorer (20 tries):

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

Gloucester * Premiership Rugby Sevens runners up:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Ian 1992 births Living people Coventry R.F.C. players English rugby league players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Gloucestershire All Golds players Rugby league players from Bristol Rugby union players from Bristol