Harlequins sign England centre Will Joseph

Harlequins have signed 20-year-old Will Joseph, the London Irish and England centre. Joseph, a member of England’s World Cup training squad, joined Harlequins after London Irish’s suspension from the Gallagher Premiership earlier this month.

The news comes fresh on the heels of the confirmation that the club had also signed prop Lovejoy Chawatama and Chandler Cunningham-South.

He began his career at the London Irish Academy at the age of 13 and represented England U18. In the 2020/21 season, he made his debut in both the Premiership and European competitions and later earned a spot in England’s U20 squad for the 2022 Six Nations.

Joseph continued to impress, attending multiple England camps in 2022 and eventually making his Test debut against Australia. After a successful season with London Irish, he was included in Steve Borthwick’s England World Cup training squad.

“I’m excited to be joining Harlequins and appreciate how quickly they’ve made me feel so welcome,” said Joseph. “It’s obviously been a tough couple of months for everyone involved with London Irish, with an ending that none of us ever expected, and I just wanted to thank all the fans, coaches, and staff for their time and help in my career so far and hope to see some of them at The Stoop next season.

“Meeting Billy and the team at Quins and hearing about their plans and how I can hopefully fit into that was exciting, and I’m looking forward to the new challenge ahead. I’ve already worked with some of the coaches and have a lot of good friends at the Club, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in as soon as I can and meeting the rest of the squad and staff soon.”

Director of Rugby Billy Millard added: “Will is a highly talented athlete who has progressed significantly during his time with London Irish. He is a powerful centre who displays confidence in attack and defence and works extremely hard to improve certain areas of his game. We’re pleased we’re able to support Will with this opportunity and look forward to welcoming him to Quins.”