Piers Francis
| Date of birth | 20 June 1990 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Gravesend, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (14 st 2 lb; 198 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Piers Francis (born 20 June 1990) is an English rugby union footballer who plays in the fly-half and occasionally inside centre position.
Francis was born in Gravesend, Kent, attended Kent College, Canterbury and played for Old Gravesendians RFC & Maidstone FC. He was also a member of the Saracens Academy for three years during his teens. He moved to New Zealand at the age of 18 and played ITM Cup rugby for both Auckland and Waikato before returning to the UK in 2012 to sign with Edinburgh.
He spent two years with the Edinburgh outfit, but suffered an injury in the pre-season ahead of the 2013-14 campaign which effectively kept him out of action for the whole season.
He was released in the summer of 2014 along with other fly-halves Harry Leonard and Gregor Hunter.
It was announced in November 2014 that he had signed with RFU Championship side Doncaster Knights, with the contract running until March 2015.
For the remainder of 2015 Francis returned to New Zealand, where he linked with the ITM Cup team Counties Manukau on a two-year deal.[1] After a strong showing in a Tana Umaga coached side, he followed his coach and signed a deal with the Super Rugby team the Blues for the 2016 Super Rugby season.[2]
On 20 March 2017, Francis signed to return to England and join Gallagher Premiership club Northampton Saints from the 2017-18 season.[3] This made him eligible to be picked for England again, and he was subsequently picked for England's 2017 summer tour of Argentina.[4]
References
- ↑ "Steelers playmaker Piers Francis using NPC to prove Super Rugby credentials".
- ↑ "Injured All Blacks key to new-look Blues squad for Super Rugby 2016".
- ↑ "Northampton Saints sign Auckland Blues fly-half Piers Francis". BBC Sport. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
- ↑ "England v Argentina: Dylan Hartley, Joe Launchbury & George Ford in squad". BBC Sport. 20 April 2017. Retrieved 20 April 2017.