Piers Francis (born 20 June 1990) 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 ...

footballer who plays in the

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– ...

and occasionally

inside centre 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– ...

position. His current club is

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 ...

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 ...

, he has previously played for

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", ...

, the in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

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 ...

Doncaster Knights Doncaster Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club representing the town of Doncaster, England. The first XV are known as the "Doncaster Knights", and play in the RFU Championship. Being the most promoted side in English history has led to ...

Career

Francis was born in

Gravesend, Kent Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, situated 21 miles (35 km) east-southeast of Charing Cross (central London) on the south bank of the River Thames and opposite Tilbury in Essex. Located in the diocese of Rochester, it is t ...

, attended

Kent College ) , established = 1885 , closed = , type = Public SchoolIndependent day and boarding school , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = , head ...

, Canterbury and played for Old Gravesendians RFC &

Maidstone FC Maidstone Rugby Club is an English rugby union club based in Maidstone, Kent. The men's first XV currently compete in Counties 2 - a league at the eighth tier of the English rugby union system following the club's relegation from London 2 South ...

. He was also a member of the

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 ...

Academy for three years during his teens. He moved to

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 ...

at the age of 18 and played

ITM Cup ITM may stand for: Education * ITM Global School, an English medium co-educational day school in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India * ITM Law School, one of the professional graduate schools of ITM University * ITM-IFM, Mumbai, India * Institut Tekn ...

rugby for both and before returning to the UK in 2012 to sign with

. He spent two years with the Edinburgh outfit, but suffered an injury in the pre-season ahead of the 2013-14 campaign which effectively kept him out of action for the whole season. He was released in the summer of 2014 along with other fly-halves Harry Leonard and

Gregor Hunter Gregor Hunter (born 26 September 1991) is a Scotland Club XV international player. In 2012 he was awarded the Macphail Scholarship and spent four months playing club rugby in New Zealand. Hunter joined Edinburgh as an elite development player ...

. It was announced in November 2014 that he had signed with

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

, with the contract running until March 2015. For the remainder of 2015 Francis returned to

, where he linked with the

team on a two-year deal. After a strong showing in a

Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa Umaga (; ; born 27 May 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. Since 2016 he has been coach of the Blues in the Super Rugby competition. He played ...

coached side, he followed his coach and signed a deal with the

team the for the 2016

season. On 20 March 2017, Francis signed to return to England and join

Gallagher 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 ...

club

from the 2017–18 season. This made him eligible to be picked for

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 ...

again, and he was subsequently picked for England's 2017 summer tour of Argentina.

International career

International tries

References

Honours

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

Webb Ellis Cup The Webb Ellis Cup is the trophy awarded to the winner of the men's Rugby World Cup, the premier competition in men's international rugby union. The Cup is named after William Webb Ellis, who is often credited as being the inventor of rugby footba ...

**Runner up:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

External links

*http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/26867892 *http://www.drfc.co.uk/news/piers-pens-with-knights/ *https://www.northamptonsaints.co.uk/person/piers-francis {{DEFAULTSORT:Francis, Piers 1990 births Living people Auckland rugby union players Blues (Super Rugby) players Counties Manukau rugby union players Edinburgh Rugby players England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at Kent College Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Gravesend, Kent Waikato rugby union players Northampton Saints players 2019 Rugby World Cup players