Ollie Thorley (born 11 September 1996) 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 its m ...

player who plays 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 ...

in the

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 ...

Club career

Thorley made his professional debut at age 17, becoming the youngest player to play for Gloucester in the professional era when he played the full 80 minutes, partnered with World Cup winner

Mike Tindall Michael James Tindall, (born 18 October 1978) is an English former rugby union player. Tindall played outside centre for Bath and Gloucester, and won 75 caps for England between 2000 and 2011. He was a member of the England squad which won ...

in a

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

match against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in November 2013. Ollie became the club's youngest first team try scorer when he crossed against Ospreys in March 2015 in the

and he marked his debut in the Aviva Premiership, from off the bench, with the game's only try against the

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, 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 i ...

in April 2016. In November 2017, he was awarded Try of the week for his week 8 try 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 ...

. Following a spate of tries and Man of the Match presentations, Thorley was awarded the Gallagher Premiership Rugby Player of the Month for November 2018. Ollie won the RPA Young Player of the Year Award for the 2018/2019 season and the Premiership Rugby Try of the Season Award. In the 2019/2020 season Ollie Thorley was named the Gallagher Premiership top try scorer with a total of 11 tries. This was also the most number of tries scored by a Gloucester player in a Premiership season. In the same season Ollie Thorley also became one of only 3 players to have scored four first-half tries in a Gallagher Premiership game as Gloucester beat Leicester 46-30 at Kingsholm.

International career

Thorley was selected for the England U18s for the summer tour in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

after winning the FIRA/AER European Championship in April 2016 beating

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 ...

30-14 in Poland. He was also selected for the England U20s, winning every cap and part of winning the 2016 IRB Junior World Championship defeating Ireland 45-19 at

City of Manchester Stadium The City of Manchester Stadium in Manchester, England, also known as the Etihad Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the home of Premier League club Manchester City F.C., with a domestic football capacity of 53,400, making it the 6th-largest ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

Thorley was selected for the Senior England squad for the first time when Eddie Jones announced his 2019 Six Nations squad after a string of impressive performances for his club, Gloucester. He was called up again for the

2020 Six Nations Championship 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, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

. On 31 October 2020 he made his England debut from the bench in England's delayed final Six Nations match against Italy, to become the 2020 Six Nations champions.Italy 5-34 England: Visitors' victory proves enough to win Six Nations title, BBC News
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Personal life

Thorley attended

St Paul's Cathedral School (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent preparatory schoolChoral foundation school , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label = Headmaster , hea ...

until the age of seven, whereupon his family moved out of London and to the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. He then attended Cheltenham College Junior School and

Cheltenham College ("Work Conquers All") , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent School Day and Boarding School , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = Head , head = Nicola Huggett ...

, respectively - the latter of which he was Deputy Head Boy. He captained the CC 1st XV in Upper Sixth, and the Athletics Team. Upon moving to the

, Thorley also played club rugby for Stow on the Wold RFC before being spotted as a rising star. Thorley is the great nephew of Martin Britt, a former football player who played as a striker for

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

from 1961 to 1968. His aunt is the TV presenter and model

Eku Edewor Georgina Chloe Eku Edewor-Thorley, otherwise known as Eku Edewor (born 18 December 1986), is a British Nigerian actress, television presenter, and model. She is best known for her work as host of the entertainment television program ''53 Extra' ...

References

External links

Gloucester Rugby ProfileEngland Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorley, Ollie 1996 births Living people English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Rugby union players from London England international rugby union players Rugby union centres