Joe Marchant (born ) is an English professional

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 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 ...

for Harlequins in the Premiership Marchant is regarded highly having received international recognition at U18 and U20 level, winning a junior world title with the latter as well as playing twelve times for the senior England team.

Background

Marchant was born on 16 July 1996 in Winchester. He began playing rugby at the age of 6. He studied at

Peter Symonds College Peter Symonds College is a sixth form college in Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England. Founded as a boys' grammar school, it is one of the few specialist sixth form colleges which is also a boarding school. It serves Falkland Island ...

, taking a

BTEC Extended Diploma The BTEC (Business and Technology Education Council) Level 3 diploma is a Further Education qualification and vocational qualification taken in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The qualification is organised and awarded by Pearson within the ...

in sport and was captain of the rugby side there. Marchant has also been schooled at Harestock and Henry Beaufort. He played for

Winchester RFC Winchester RFC is an English rugby union club that is affiliated with the Hampshire RFU. Winchester currently run three senior men's teams - 1st XV, 2nd XV - who play in Hampshire 2 and a 3rd XV (Winchester Knights - largely a veteran's side) who ...

as a school boy from 2002–12 and Symondians in 2013. He represented Hampshire rugby from u14-u18. Marchant is also a blackbelt in Karate.

Club career

Marchant joined the Harlequins academy in 2014 and made his club debut 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 May 2015. On 10 November 2019, the Blues, Auckland's Super Rugby team, announced that they had signed Marchant on their Instagram account. It was confirmed via their own website that he would be playing with them as part of a sabbatical clause provided by Harlequins to further his international experience and possibility of an England call up. He featured in seven games and scored three tries. In September 2020 he started for the Harlequins side that lost to Sale Sharks in the final of the

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Welsh regions. History The Premiership Rugby Cup was ...

. He scored two tries during Harlequins 43-36 defeat of Bristol Bears in the Premiership semi-final, a game in which Quins recovered from 28 points down to win. He started the following week in the Premiership final against Exeter. Harlequins won the game 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever. In December 2022, Marchant agreed to join

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 ...

side Stade Français for the 2023 season.

International career

Marchant represented England U18 winning 14 caps and scoring one try. He has also represented

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 ...

scoring 59 points including ten tries. Marchant was a member of the side that won the

2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held between February and March 2015. England won the championship. However, no team won either a Grand Slam or the Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse ...

. At the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tournamen ...

, Marchant scored in pool stage fixtures against

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 Australia. He scored two tries in the final against

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 ...

. His impressive performances at junior level earned him a call-up to Eddie Jones' 45 man 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 ...

training squad on 1 August 2016 and the following month saw him subsequently named in the Test squad for the Autumn Internationals. On 20 April 2017 Marchant was one of 15 uncapped players named in the senior squad for their summer tour against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

but had to pull out due to injury. On 11 August 2019 Marchant made his Test debut as a second-half replacement for Jonathan Joseph in a World Cup warm-up match against

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 ...

. The following month saw him score his first try on his first start in their final warm-up fixture against

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...

. He was not selected for the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...

. After the World Cup Marchant gained another cap when he featured against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

in their opening fixture of the 2020 Autumn Nations Cup.

References

External links

Harlequins Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marchant, Joe 1996 births Living people Blues (Super Rugby) players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players People educated at Peter Symonds College Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Winchester