| Birth name | Joseph Batley | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 27 June 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Portsmouth, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 124 kg (19 st 7 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | Hartpury College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Joe Batley (born 27 June 1996) is an English professional rugby union player who plays at lock, Flanker or Number 8 for Premiership Rugby club Bristol Bears. [1]
Batley played for the England U18 side that won the 2014 Rugby Europe Under-18 Championship. [2] The following year he was a member of the England U20 team that won the 2015 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. [3] [4] Batley was initially included in the squad for the 2015 World Rugby Under 20 Championship however illness ruled him out of attending the tournament. [5]
Batley was a graduate of the Gloucester academy and in 2017 left to sign his first professional contract with local rivals Bristol. [6] [7] In his first season at the club Bristol won the 2017–18 RFU Championship to secure promotion to the top flight. [8]
Batley joined Worcester Warriors for the 2020–21 season. [9] In May 2022 he started for the Warriors side that beat London Irish in the final of the Premiership Rugby Cup to win Worcester their first ever top-flight trophy. [10]
On 5 October 2022 all Worcester players had their contacts terminated due to the liquidation of the company to which they were contracted. [11] Following the termination of his contract at Worcester it was confirmed that Batley had returned to Bristol Bears. [1] [12]
In November 2024 Batley was selected for the England A squad however an injury sustained playing for Bristol against Australia A ruled him out of their side. [13]
In May 2025 Batley was called up to a training camp for the senior England squad by Steve Borthwick. [14]