Jon Clarke (rugby union)

Jon Clarke
Full name Jon Clarke
Date of birth (1983-10-22) 22 October 1983
Place of birth Sheffield, England
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 96 kg (15 st 2 lb)[1]
Rugby union career
Current status
Current team Yorkshire Carnegie]]
Playing career
Position Centre, Wing, Fullback
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2003–2012
2012–2014
2014–		 Northampton Saints
Worcester Warriors
Yorkshire Carnegie		 108 (145)

Jon Clarke (born 22 October 1983 in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England) is a rugby union player for Yorkshire Carnegie in the RFU Championship. He plays primarily as a centre and also occasionally at full-back or on the wing.

He has represented the England Saxons team and many have suggested he should be given a chance in the full England rugby union team with other young players like Mathew Tait, Dan Hipkiss and James Simpson-Daniel.[2]

Clarke, born in Sheffield, has played a total of 165 games for the Saints and scored 32 tries.

Clarke started his pro career as part of the all conquering Bristol Academy under Paul Hull. He was a tall long-striding and elusive player, excelling at full back for England Under 21s in a Grand Slam season. He moved to Franklin's Gardens in 2003 when Bristol were relegated. as part of the Saints Academy and had an immediate impact at first team level.

He was named Young Player of the Year in 2003/04, normally operating at full back, before a switch to centre in 2005 saw his career hit new highs.

Clarke was also hugely significant for Saints during the 2009/10 season with his nine tries in all competitions the second highest tally in the squad, and his play alongside James Downey earned him a call from the England Saxons for their Six Nations games against Ireland and Italy.

After passing a century of Saints appearances in a Heineken Cup match with Benetton Treviso, Clarke retained his place in the Saxons squad that went on to win the 2010 Churchill Cup in Denver, USA.

In 2012, Jon moved to Worcester Warriors where he enjoyed a memorable debut for Warriors as he scored a bonus-point try against London Irish in September 2012 and subsequently won the man-of-the-match award for his performance.

On 27 December 2013, Clarke was loaned out to Yorkshire Carnegie who compete in the RFU Championship for the remainder of the 2013-14 season.[3] However, he soon signed a permanent deal to stay with the club.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Aviva Premiership Rugby - Northampton Saints". web page. Premier Rugby. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
  2. ↑ "Jeremy Guscott column". BBC News. 12 January 2009.
  3. ↑ "Jon Clarke: Yorkshire Carnegie sign Worcester Warriors centre on loan". BBC Sport. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Jon Clarke's Player Profile". Yorkshire Carnegie. 11 November 2014.

External links


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