William Joseph Addison (born 20 August 1992) is an English-born Irish

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 as a utility back for

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

in the

United Rugby Championship The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

and

European Rugby Champions Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, and internationally for

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 ...

. A product of the

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

academy, Addison made his club debut for Sale in 2010. He was part of 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 Eng ...

side which won the Junior Six Nations. He also featured at the 2012 Junior World Cup. He split time between his rugby career and studying for a degree in business studies, graduating in 2014. He was named the Sharks' captain ahead of the 2017-18 season, having previously captained the side in the absence of

Josh Beaumont Josh Beaumont (born 24 March 1992) is a rugby union player for the Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership. He plays as a number 8, or a lock. His debut season in the Sale Sharks jersey was uneventful as well as his second season. During his thir ...

. Addison is Irish-qualified through his

Fermanagh Historically, Fermanagh ( ga, Fir Manach), as opposed to the modern County Fermanagh, was a kingdom of Gaelic Ireland, associated geographically with present-day County Fermanagh. ''Fir Manach'' originally referred to a distinct kin group of al ...

-born mother, and grew up supporting Ireland. His contract with Sale contained an option to leave if an Irish team approached him, and he signed for Ulster ahead of the 2018–19 season in pursuit of his ambitions to play international rugby. He had a successful start to the season, initially at fullback, later at outside centre."Making an impact at Ulster Rugby"
The Front Row Union, 23 May 2019 On 24 October 2018, he was named in the Ireland squad for the November Internationals. On 3 November 2018 he made his debut for Ireland against Italy. He sustained a back injury in January 2019 that required surgery and kept him out for fifteen months. He returned to action in April 2021, before his season was ended by a red card for a dangerous tackle against

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

in May. He started the 2021–22 season strongly, playing four games and scoring a try, before sustaining a fracture of the lower leg in October which again meant undergoing surgery.Jonathan Bradley
"Ulster’s luckless Will Addison sustains broken leg"
''Belfast Telegraph'', 18 October 2021

References

External links

Ulster Rugby profileUnited Rugby Championship profile
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Ireland profile
1992 births Living people Alumni of the University of Manchester English people of Irish descent English rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Irish rugby union players People educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Penrith Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Penrith, Cumbria Rugby union wings Sale Sharks players Ulster Rugby players {{ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub