Jonathan Byron Alexander Joseph (born 21 May 1991) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

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 eccentricity ...

for

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

club

Biarritz Biarritz ( , , , ; also spelled ; ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spain. It is a luxu ...

. He played more than fifty games for England between 2012 and 2020.

Early career

Joseph began his rugby career at Derby RFC. He attended The Old Vicarage School, a preparatory school in

Darley Abbey Darley Abbey is a former historic mill village, now a suburb of the city of Derby, in the ceremonial county of Derbyshire, England. It is located approximately north of the city centre, on the west bank of the River Derwent, and forms part ...

, before the family moved to

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. His father is originally from

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

and represented

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

in the 1980s. His younger brother Will Joseph is also a professional rugby player who made his international debut in July 2022. Joseph attended

Millfield Millfield is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for pupils aged 13–18) located in Street, Somerset, England. It was founded in 1935. Millfield is a registered charity and is the largest co-educational boarding ...

and came through the London Irish academy after he spent his teenage years playing at Newbury RFC. At club level, his first senior rugby came on loan to Barnes RFC as injury cover; however, his breakthrough season was for Irish in 2010–11, when he played in thirteen Premiership games and scored five tries. His remarkable rise was marked with a nomination for the Land Rover Discovery of the Season award in 2012. He left London Irish at the end of the 2012–13 season having made 44 appearances and scored 13 tries.

Club career

Joseph joined Bath at the start of the 2013–14 season and quickly forged a successful midfield partnership with inside centre Kyle Eastmond. In his first season at the club he started in their

EPCR Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

final defeat to Northampton at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. After a relatively quiet inaugural season, Joseph more than hit his straps in his second, proving to be sublime in attack and robust in defence. During their European Champions Cup match away at

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () (), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulouse is the most successfu ...

in January 2015, Bath showed scant regard for the French team's vast rugby pedigree and ran in four tries, with Joseph providing the catalyst for what many commentators regard as one of the finest European cup rugby tries of all time. Collecting the ball inside his own half, Joseph wriggled and side-stepped past a number of players before chipping ahead and collecting. After a searing run, again escaping the tackles of many of the Toulouse defenders, he released teammate Ross Batty, who in turn passed to Francois Louw to complete the move in scoring what was a truly audacious try. At the end of the 2014-15 season Joseph scored a try in the Premiership final as Bath finished as runners-up to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

International career

England

Joseph progressed through the England age-grade ranks and started for the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

side that defeated

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in the final round of the 2011 Six Nations Under 20s Championship to complete a grand slam. Later that year he was a member of the squad that finished as runners-up to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

in the final of the

2011 IRB Junior World Championship The 2011 IRB Junior World Championship was the fourth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams, this competition replaced the now defunct under 19 and under 21 world championships. The event was organised by rugby' ...

alongside future England teammates Mako Vunipola, Joe Launchbury, George Ford,

Owen Farrell Owen Andrew Farrell (born Owen Andrew O'Loughlin, 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half for Premiership Rugby club Saracens F.C., Saracens. He was the England captain fr ...

, Elliot Daly and Christian Wade, amongst others. In February 2012, Joseph made his debut at England 'A' level in a defeat against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Joseph was one of thirteen uncapped players selected by England head coach Stuart Lancaster for the 2012 mid-year tour of South Africa. On 9 June 2012, he made his debut as a second-half substitute for Mike Brown in the first Test defeat at Kings Park Stadium. An injury to Brad Barritt allowed Joseph to start the subsequent two Tests at outside-centre alongside Manu Tuilagi. He was ruled out of the 2013 Six Nations through injury but was named to start both Test matches on the subsequent tour of Argentina. Joseph scored his first international try against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in the opening game of the 2015 Six Nations. In the next round he scored twice against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and was named player of the match. Joseph recorded his fourth try of the competition in the penultimate round against

to finish the top try scorer of the tournament. On 14 May 2015, it was announced that Joseph had won the Rugby Players' Association 'Player's Player of the Year' and 'England Player of the Year' for his outstanding performances for both club and country during the 2014–15 season. He was included in the squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was ...

and scored in a warm-up loss to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He played in three of their four pool games as the hosts failed to reach the knockout phase. Joseph was selected by new coach Eddie Jones for the 2016 Six Nations and during the tournament scored his first hat-trick at international level away to Italy. He started all five games during the competition including the final match as England defeated France to achieve their first Grand Slam in over a decade. He scored a try in the opening game of their 2016 tour of Australia and also started the next two Tests as England completed a series

whitewash Whitewash, calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, asbestis or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk (calcium carbonate, CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes ...

. Later that year he scored tries in autumn internationals against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The following year saw Joseph accomplish another hat-trick in the penultimate round of the 2017 Six Nations against Scotland. He also started in the final game of the competition as England missed out on a consecutive grand slam with defeat away to

which also brought an end to a record equalling eighteen successive

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

victories. Later that year he scored another try in a victory over Australia. Joseph was included in the squad 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 matc ...

. He played in the quarter-final and semi-final victories over

and

. In the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final he came off the bench during the second-half to replace Jonny May as England were defeated by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

to finish as runners-up. After the World Cup Joseph won his fiftieth cap during the 2020 Six Nations and also started in the final round victory against Italy which meant England won the tournament. Later that year he played in the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn rugby union internationals, Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoidin ...

; however, a calf injury ruled him out of the final of the competition.

British & Irish Lions

Joseph was selected as one of the 41

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

players that toured

in the summer of 2017. He did not participate in the Test series but did score a try in a tour game against Highlanders.

International tries

Honours

England *

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

runner-up:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Bath * Premiership runner up: 2014–15 *

runner up: 2013–14

References

External links

RFU profile

Bath Rugby profile

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Jonathan 1991 births Living people Black British sportsmen Bath Rugby players England international rugby union players English rugby union players English people of Carriacouan descent London Irish players People educated at Millfield British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Rugby union players from Derby Rugby union centres 2015 Rugby World Cup players 2019 Rugby World Cup players Biarritz Olympique players 21st-century English sportsmen