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Gloucester set to sign 1-cap England centre Will Joseph
By Neil Fissler
Gloucester are set to offer one cap England outside centre Will Joseph the chance to kick start his stalled career with a move to Kingsholm next season.
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Derby-born Joseph, 22, the younger brother of another former England international Jonathan, who is now plying his trade with ProD2 promotion hopefuls Biarritz, has seen his career hit the buffers this season.
Two of his three appearances for Harlequins have come against Championship sides in the Premiership Cup with Luke Northmore and Oscar Beard, who has started the last three Premiership games ahead of him in the pecking order.
Joseph, whose international career amounted to a two-minute cameo in July 2022 as a replacement under Eddie Jones in a second test victory over Australia at Suncorp Stadium, moved to Quins when London Irish collapsed a year later.
A member of England’s World Cup training squad was axed before Steve Borthwick named his final squad and scored five tries in 13 games for Quins last season.
Millfield educated Joseph, who made 30 appearances for the Exiles and was hoping to finally step out from the shadows of Jonathan, who is 11 years older, but for some reason, it has not been happening for him at the Twickenham Stoop.
“I remember being really young, going to watch him play, and that’s what I wanted to do. He (Jonathan) very much wants me to figure things out.
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“He’s always there if I need anything – but he wants me to try and do it on my own. Watching him grow up I looked at him and thought why can’t I do that?”
“I think for me it is playing consistently, at a high level, so the likes of (Henry) Slade and (Ollie) Lawrence, they’re playing every week and at such a good level. So, that is something I want to achieve this year,” he told the Mirror.
Joseph’s father, Ivan, played 11 games for Northampton in the mid-1980s, and a move to Gloucester would allow him to work again with James Lightfoot Brown, his attack coach from London Irish.
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With Anyanwu leaving for France and Northmore's not so rare injuries, Quins might need to bring in someone for the midfield.