Zach Mercer (born 28 June 1997) is an English

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 number eight or a flanker for

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

Early life

Mercer was born in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

and grew up near Halifax. He played junior rugby for

Old Brodleians Old Brodleians RUFC (or ''Brods'', as they are known) are an English rugby union club from Hipperholme, near Halifax, West Yorkshire. The club currently operates three senior men's teams in the past there was a strong veterans side whose regular ...

. At the age of eight he moved with his family to

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. In Scotland he attended Netherlee Primary School and Williamwood High School in Glasgow. He left at the end of his third year and then he attended

Merchiston Castle School Merchiston Castle School is an independent boarding school for boys in the suburb of Colinton in Edinburgh, Scotland. It has around 470 pupils and is open to boys between the ages of 7 and 18 as either boarding or day pupils; it was modelled a ...

and played for Glasgow Hutchesons Aloysians.

Club career

Whilst living in Scotland, Mercer was a member of the

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

academy. In 2015, Mercer joined

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 ...

. In September 2016, Mercer made his club debut in a Premiership fixture against the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. In February 2021 it was confirmed that Mercer would join French

side

ahead of the 2021–22 season. On 30 August 2022, it was confirmed that Mercer would return to England to rejoin 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 ...

with

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 ...

on a long-term deal ahead of the 2022-23 season.

International career

Youth teams

Mercer became a Scottish-qualified player through residency and played for the Scotland U16 team. In March 2015, Mercer represented England U18 at the U18 European Championship. Mercer made his debut for 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 during the 2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. In June 2016, Mercer scored a try against Italy U20 in the group stage of the 2016 Junior World Cup. Mercer was captain of the

team that completed the grand slam in the 2017 U20 Six Nations. Mercer also captained the team at the 2017 Junior World Cup, scoring the winning try in the semi-final against

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 ...

. They were defeated in the final by

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 ...

. His performances saw Mercer nominated for World Rugby Junior Player of the Year.

Senior teams

Mercer received his first call up to the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

for the 2017 Autumn Internationals, however coach Eddie Jones made it clear he would be treated as an apprentice player in the squad. In January 2018 he was named in England's squad for the

2018 Six Nations Championship The 2018 Six Nations Championship (known as the Natwest 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 19th Six Nations Championship, the annual international rugby union tournament for the six major European rugby union nations. The championship wa ...

and was no longer listed as an apprentice player. On 27 May 2018, Mercer started for England at number 8 in a non-test 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 less c ...

. Scoring a first half try on his England debut, a 63–45 loss for England, against an experienced Baa Baa lineup. Mercer was selected to make his England debut against South Africa in the 2018 Autumn Internationals after

Ben Morgan Benjamin John Morgan (born 18 February 1989) is an England international rugby union player currently plays at number eight for Gloucester. Morgan scored his first try for the Scarlets on 22 April 2011 against Glasgow Warriors. Morgan went t ...

was dropped. Eddie Jones announced that Mercer will gain his first start in a test match for England in their 2018 Autumn Internationals match against Japan.

Personal life

Mercer's father is former

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 112 ...

footballer and coach

Gary Mercer Gary Ivan Mercer (born 22 June 1966) is a New Zealand rugby league and rugby union coach and former professional rugby league footballer. A New Zealand international representative player, he has spent most of his career in Britain both playing ...

, who played for

and the

New Zealand Māori rugby league team New Zealand Māori rugby league team is a rugby league representative side made up of New Zealand Māori players. The side represents the New Zealand Māori Rugby league. Like its union counterpart, the rugby league team previously competed in ...

. He is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...

ancestry.

References

External links

RFU profileBath profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Zach 1997 births Living people English rugby union players Bath Rugby players Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights British people of Māori descent People educated at Merchiston Castle School England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Leeds