Oliver Jonathan Devoto (born 22 September 1993) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

player, who plays for

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...

as a utility back primarily as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

and

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Early life

Devoto was born in

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and grew up in

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

. The Devoto surname is of Ligurian descent (ref reqd). Ollie was educated at The Gryphon School in

. Devoto started playing for his local club

Sherborne RFC Sherborne Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club in Dorset in the south west of England. The club was established in 1980. It has a membership of 100 senior players and a further 300 boys and girls in the junior section. The club runs two ...

from when he was seven years old and stayed there through all of their age groups. While with Sherborne, Devoto represented Dorset & Wiltshire at under-16 and under-18 levels and played for the South West under-16 side. Devoto was picked up by the Bath Rugby academy at the age of 16, and was granted a sixth form scholarship at

Bryanston School Bryanston School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) located next to the village of Bryanston, and near the town of Blandford Forum, in Dorset in South West England. It was founded in 1928. ...

Club career

Bath Rugby: 2012–2016

An injury crisis during the 2012–13 season amongst Bath's backs saw Devoto promoted to the 1st XV squad, and he made his first team debut as a substitute in Bath's Premiership match against

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

on 8 September 2012. On 1 March 2013, Devoto joined

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

side

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates ( kw, An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn ...

on a dual-registration deal but didn't make an appearance for the Penzance-based club. In March 2014, Devoto was named 2014 LV= breakthrough player for his performances in the 2014–15 LV Cup, as part of the award his former club Sherborne RFC received a £1,000 donation. Devoto played for the vast majority of Bath's 2015 Premiership final loss to Saracens, replacing the injured Anthony Watson after seven minutes.

Exeter Chiefs: 2016–present

On 15 January 2016, Devoto signed for fellow Premiership side

on a three-year contract ahead of the 2016–17 season. He started the final as Exeter Chiefs defeated

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016-17 English Premiership.

International career

Devoto having previously represented the England U19 development team, was called up to the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in En ...

side for the

2013 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2013 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2013. England won the tournament. Final table Results Round one Round two Round three Round four Round five References ...

. He made his debut off the bench as his side overcame

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

40–10. After impressing in that performance, he was selected at full-back in the final two matches of the tournament, as his England side beat

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

to retain the Six Nations trophy. Devoto was then included in England's squad for the

2013 IRB Junior World Championship The 2013 IRB Junior World Championship was the sixth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, the IRB. A total of twelve nations played in the tournament ...

, scoring a try in England's record 109–0 victory over the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. He was a replacement in the final as England triumphed over Wales and lifted the World Championship title. In June 2014, Devoto was included in an England XV for their match against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

. Devoto came on as a replacement for his Bath teammate Jonathan Joseph and played for the last 21 minutes in England's 39–29 defeat. On 21 January 2015, Devoto was included in the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

squad for the first time for a match against their

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

counterparts. Devoto received his first call up to the senior

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

squad by new coach Eddie Jones on 13 January 2016 for the

2016 Six Nations Championship The 2016 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2016 RBS 6 Nations due to the tournament's sponsorship by The Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 17th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. I ...

. On 29 May 2016, Devoto made his England debut as a substitute in England's 27–13 win against

. After Harlequins' promising centre Joe Marchant was ruled out of the Argentina Tour through a toe injury, Devoto was called up as an injury replacement following a good performance in Exeter's 23-20 Aviva Premiership final win. Devoto was selected as a substitute in England’s opening match against France in the 2020 Six Nations.

References

External links

Bath Rugby profile
*
Career stats
at Statbunker {{DEFAULTSORT:Devoto, Ollie 1993 births Living people Bath Rugby players Cornish Pirates players England international rugby union players English people of Italian descent English rugby union players Exeter Chiefs players People educated at Bryanston School Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Yeovil