Harlequins have confirmed the signing of a third former London Irish player in one day, as they welcome centre Will Joseph to the Twickenham Stoop.
The exciting young centre joins his former Exiles teammates Chandler Cunningham-South and Lovejoy Chawatama in the famous quarters for next season. The 20-year-old will remain in the Premiership following the financial collapse of London Irish, with today marking a busy day in the transfer window for the former Exiles.
Joseph joined London Irish at 13-years-old, and progressed through the fabled Exiles Academy and into the senior squad. He has already received international recognition for England U18s and later U20s, for the 2022 U20s Six Nations. He followed in the footsteps of his brother Jonathon Joseph, and made his senior test debut in the tail end of the Eddie Jones era, during England’s 2022 Summer tour to Australia.
He has since gone on to impress England Head Steve Borthwick, and earned himself a place in the wider training squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Joseph will aim to make some Summer appearances at Twickenham stadium, as England complete their warm-up matches ahead of the trip to France.
Joseph will then make the short walk across to the Stoop, and settle into his new home for the 2023/24 Premiership campaign. Speaking to the Harlequins website, Joseph said;
“I’m excited to be joining Harlequins and appreciate how quickly they’ve made me feel so welcome. 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.”