Jonny May

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Jonny May
USO-Gloucester Rugby - 20141025 - Jonny May.jpg
May representing Gloucester during the Aviva Premiership
Full nameJonathan James May
Date of birth (1990-04-01) 1 April 1990 (age 34)
Place of birth Chiseldon, England
Height1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) [1]
Weight90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb) [1]
School Hartpury College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Current team Gloucester
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2009–2017 Gloucester 138 (310)
2009–2010Moseley (loan) 15 (30)
2017–2020 Leicester Tigers 44 (150)
2020–2024 Gloucester 55 (80)
2024– Soyaux Angoulême 0 (0)
Correct as of 24 May 2024
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2010 England U20 8 (30)
2012 England A 2 (0)
2013–2023 England 78 (180)
Correct as of 21 October 2023

Jonathan James May (born 1 April 1990) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for Pro D2 club Soyaux Angoulême and formerly for the England national team. [2] [3]

Contents

May began his senior career at Gloucester, and also played for Moseley on loan. He moved to Leicester Tigers in 2017 and returned to Gloucester in July 2020. He made his debut for England in 2013. He earned 78 caps and scored 36 tries making him England's second highest try scorer. He announced his retirement from international rugby in October 2023.

Early life

May was born in Chiseldon, Wiltshire. He studied at St Francis before he attended The Ridgeway School and Sixth Form College. As a child, May spent time playing and training at Wootton Bassett RFC in their Mini & Junior teams. He also trained with the academy of Swindon Town. [4]

May then studied at Hartpury College, where he was a member of Hartpury College RFC, coached by Allan Lewis in a team that included future Wales and Lions wing Alex Cuthbert. [4] [5] A stint in Canberra led to a short spell with ACT Brumbies academy. [4]

Club career

After joining Gloucester's rugby academy, [5] May made his first start for Gloucester Rugby in a pre-season friendly against Bath on 15 August 2009, and the next weekend he scored a try against Connacht after he had come off the bench. His first taste of first team action came in the Heineken Cup when he replaced Charlie Sharples against Newport Gwent Dragons and just over a month later he made his first start against London Wasps in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, playing on the wing. [6]

On 20 February 2010, May was a late replacement for Gloucester's match against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road Stadium after Fuimaono-Sapolu pulled out with a 'dead leg'. Although Gloucester lost, May played well and scored a try on his Premiership debut. [6] [7] May made two more starts for Gloucester during the remainder of the season against London Wasps and Northampton Saints. During the 2009–10 campaign he also played for Championship club Moseley on loan. [8]

In January 2012 May scored two tries from full-back at Kingsholm Stadium against Toulouse in the Heineken Cup. [6] [9] In March 2012 he was named as the inaugural winner of the LV= Breakthrough Player Award. [10] May was named Gloucester's Young Player of the Year for 2011-2012, and his stunning solo effort against Harlequins was named Try-of-the-Season at the Aviva Premiership Awards. [6] In December 2012, May signed a two-year contract extension with Gloucester until the end of the 2014–15 season. [11]

On 24 October 2014, May signed a new long-term contract with Gloucester. [12] At the end of that campaign, he scored the winning try in the 2014–15 European Rugby Challenge Cup semi-final victory over Exeter Chiefs. [13] He started the final as Gloucester overcame Edinburgh to lift the trophy. [14]

May scored the opening try in the 2016–17 European Rugby Challenge Cup final as Gloucester were defeated by Stade Français at Murrayfield to finish runners up. [15] In August 2017 it was announced May had signed for Leicester Tigers in a swap deal with Ed Slater, after activating a little known clause in his Gloucester contract. [16] May started his Leicester career strongly, scoring nine tries in his first eight appearances and earning the club's player of the month award. [17]

After three seasons at Leicester, in April 2020 it was announced that May would return to Gloucester. [18] He made his last appearance for Gloucester in the final of the 2023–24 EPCR Challenge Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which saw them beaten by Sharks to finish runners up. [19] [20] In total he scored 78 tries in 193 matches over two spells for the club. [19]

In June 2024 it was announced that May had joined Pro D2 side Soyaux Angoulême. [21]

International career

May scored a try for England U20 against Wales during the opening round of the 2010 Six Nations Under 20s Championship. [22] He was a member of the side that finished fourth at the 2010 IRB Junior World Championship and recorded the final try of their semi-final defeat to Australia. [23]

In January 2012 May made his first appearances for the England A team coming off the bench against Ireland Wolfhounds and then making his first start at that level against Scotland the following week. [24] [25] Later that year he was selected for the senior 2012 tour of South Africa and scored two tries in England's 57–31 tour fixture victory over South Africa Barbarians. [26]

May was included in the squad for the 2013 tour of Argentina and on 15 June 2013 he made his Test debut starting in the last fixture as England won the series. [27] [28]

May was called up for the 2014 Six Nations Championship and started in all five games as England claimed their first Triple Crown for over a decade. [5] [29] He played in their opening fixture of the 2014 summer tour of New Zealand at Eden Park but was dropped for the last two tests. [30] Later that year he scored his first try at international level in an autumn international defeat by New Zealand and followed up with another two tries against Samoa. [31] [32]

May scored a try against Ireland in their last warm-up fixture for the 2015 Rugby World Cup. [33] He scored his only try of the tournament in a pool stage defeat against Wales as the hosts failed to reach the knock out phase. [34] He was a member of the squad that won the 2017 Six Nations Championship. [35] [36] He scored tries against Wales, France and Ireland during the 2018 Six Nations Championship. [37] [38] [39] Later that year he scored in all three of their matches during the 2018 tour of South Africa. [40] [41] [42]

May was top try scorer during the 2019 Six Nations Championship, scoring six tries in total including a hat-trick against France and one apiece against Ireland, Italy and Scotland. [43] Later that year he was included in the squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and scored a try during a pool stage victory over Argentina. [44] May earned his fiftieth cap during the quarter-final which saw him score twice against Australia. [45] He started in the final as England were defeated by South Africa to finish runners up. [46]

May scored both of their tries during a defeat to France in the opening round of the 2020 Six Nations Championship. [47] He started in the last round of the competition as England won away in Italy to claim the title. [48] Later that year he scored two tries in a victory over Ireland during the Autumn Nations Cup. [49] He started in the final as England defeated France in extra time to lift the trophy. [50] In February 2021, May became England's second highest try scorer, surpassing Will Greenwood and Ben Cohen after scoring his thirty-second test try during the 2021 Six Nations Championship. [51]

May was not initially included in the squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup however he was a late injury replacement for Anthony Watson. [52] He scored his thirty-sixth and last try for England in their warm-up defeat against Fiji. [53] May started in five of their fixtures at the tournament including the semi-final elimination against champions South Africa as England finished third. [54] [55] After the world cup he announced his retirement from international rugby finishing with 36 tries in 78 caps. [55]

In June 2024 May scored twice for the Barbarians in a game against Fiji at Twickenham. [56]

Career statistics

List of international tries

As of 17 September 2023. [57]
TryOpposing teamVenueCompetitionDateResultScore
1Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand Twickenham Stadium, London 2014 Autumn Internationals 8 November 2014Loss21 – 24
2Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 22 November 2014Win28 – 9
3
4Flag of France.svg  France 2015 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 15 August 2015Win19 – 14
5IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 5 September 2015Win21 – 13
6Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2015 Rugby World Cup 26 September 2015Loss25 – 28
7Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 2016 Autumn Internationals 12 November 2016Win37 – 21
8Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 26 November 2016Win27 – 14
9Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, San Juan 2017 England rugby union tour of Argentina 10 June 2017Win38 – 34
10Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Twickenham Stadium, London 2017 Autumn Internationals 18 November 2017Win30 – 6
11Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 2018 Six Nations 10 February 2018Win12 – 6
12
13Flag of France.svg  France Stade de France, Paris 10 March 2018Loss16 – 22
14IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Twickenham Stadium, London 17 March 2018Loss15 – 24
15Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg 2018 England rugby union tour of South Africa 9 June 2018Loss39 – 42
16 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 16 June 2018Loss12 – 23
17 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town 23 June 2018Win25 – 10
18Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Twickenham Stadium, London 2018 Autumn Internationals 24 November 2018Win37 – 18
19IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 2019 Six Nations 2 February 2019Win32 – 20
20Flag of France.svg  France Twickenham Stadium, London 10 February 2019Win44 – 8
21
22
23Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 9 March 2019Win57 – 14
24Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 16 March 2019Draw38 – 38
25Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina Tokyo Stadium, Tokyo 2019 Rugby World Cup 5 October 2019Win39 – 10
26Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia Ōita Stadium, Ōita 19 October 2019Win40 – 16
27
28Flag of France.svg  France Stade de France, Paris 2020 Six Nations 2 February 2020Loss17 – 24
29
30IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Twickenham Stadium, London Autumn Nations Cup 21 November 2020Win18 – 7
31
32Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 2021 Six Nations 13 February 2021Win41 – 18
33IRFU flag.svg  Ireland Aviva Stadium, Dublin 20 March 2021Loss18 – 32
34Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga Twickenham Stadium, London 2021 Autumn Internationals 6 November 2021Win69 – 3
35
36Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 2023 Rugby World Cup warm-up matches 26 August 2023Loss22 – 30

International analysis by opposition

AgainstPldWDLTCPDGPTS%Won
Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 6600300015100
Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 760140002085.71
Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 32011000566.67
Flag of France.svg  France 960370003566.67
Flag of Georgia.svg  Georgia 110000000100
IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 860260003075
Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 8800200010100
Flag of Japan.svg  Japan 220000000100
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 51131000520
Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 3300200010100
Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 52121000540
Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 1040640002040
Flag of Tonga.svg  Tonga 2200200010100
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 960330001566.67
Total78552213600018070

Honours

England
Gloucester

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