David Denton (rugby union)
| Birth name | David Kipling Denton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 5 February 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Marondera, Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 119 kg (18 st 10 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Kingswood College, South Africa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Edinburgh University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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David Denton (born 5 February 1990) is a Scottish international rugby union player for Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby. He plays in the back row and can also play in the second row. He has previously played for Edinburgh Rugby in the Pro 12 and for Bath and Worcester Warriors in England.
Background
David Denton was born in Zimbabwe, and qualifies for Scotland as his mother was born in Glasgow. He attended Kingswood College in the Eastern Cape in South Africa, before making several appearances for Eastern Province in Port Elizabeth.
Club career
He moved to Edinburgh to study economics at the University of Edinburgh. While at university he played for Edinburgh Academicals. Although he struggled to begin with, playing in the 3rd XV for much of his first season, he advanced into the Accies' 2nd team, "TWAYS", under the tutelage of Malcolm McVie. He was brought into the Scotland under-20s set-up before playing for the Scottish National Academy. He was then awarded a professional contract at Edinburgh for the 2010–11 season.
His performances in his debut season lead him to being selected for Scotland's extended World Cup squad in the build-up to the showpiece. As well as his defensive capabilities, Denton is known to be an effective ball carrier due to his strength and agility (particularly for a man of his size — 1.96m and 119 kg).
In December 2013, Denton ended speculation about his future (which had seen him linked with a move to the Aviva Premiership) by signing a contract extension which saw him remain at Murrayfield until 2015.[1]
On 10 November 2015, Denton signed for English club Bath Rugby who compete in the Aviva Premiership from the 2015–16 season.[2]
On 30 May 2017, it was announced Denton would move from Bath to local rivals Worcester Warriors for the 2017-18 season.[3]
On 14 February 2018 Leicester Tigers announced the signing of Denton from Worcester for the 2018–19 season.[4]
International career
Denton made his debut for Scotland, coming on off the bench in the 10–6 win over Ireland in the Rugby World Cup warm-up matches in August 2011. However, he was not named in the final squad for the tournament. He also appeared in all of Scotland's under-20 side's games in 2010, five games in the 2010 Six Nations Under 20s Championship and in the IRB Junior World Championship.
He has appeared for the Scottish Sevens team in 2010 in the Dubai and George events.
Denton won the "man of the match" award, despite being on the losing side in Scotland's 6–13 defeat to England in the opening game of the 6 Nations on 4 February 2012.
Denton was "Man of the Match" in the 6 Nations match against France on 8 March 2014 despite being on the losing side.
Following the announcement of the 6 Nations Squad for the 2018 tournament, Denton was recalled back into the team after a notable absence from the Scotland side since the summer tour of Japan in 2016.
References
- ↑ "BBC Sport - Edinburgh flanker David Denton signs new two-year deal". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2014-03-08.
- ↑ "Bath sign Edinburgh's Scotland forward David Denton". BBC Sport. 10 November 2015. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
- ↑ "Worcester Warriors sign Bath and Scotland back-row forward David Denton". BBC Sport. 30 May 2017. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- ↑ "David Denton: Leicester Tigers sign Scotland forward for start of 2018-19 season". 14 February 2018. Retrieved 18 February 2018.