Billy Twelvetrees
Encyclopedia
William Wesley "Billy" Twelvetrees (born 15 November 1988) is a rugby union footballer who plays centre or fly-half for Leicester Tigers
.
Within the Tigers squad he is nicknamed 36. This comes from club captain Geordan Murphy
saying 'Twelvetrees', but with his Irish accent it sounded like 'twelve threes'... and twelve threes are thirty six.
for the 2008–09 season. After an outstanding season for Bedford, in which he scored 18 tries, 16 conversions and 13 penalties, he re-signed for Tigers in 2009.
He made his first appearance for Leicester in the Heineken Cup
on 11 October, filling in for Dan Hipkiss
, who was ruled out just prior to kick-off. Despite making his debut with just 10-minutes' notice, he won Man of the Match, scoring a try in a 14-point haul. Unfortunately, he was injured in his next match and ruled out for a large part of the season. He went on to make just six appearances in 2009–10, scoring four tries.
In the opening games of the 2010–11 season, Leicester lost Toby Flood
, Jeremy Staunton
and George Ford
to injury and Twelvetrees was again thrust into the starting line-up, this time at fly-half.
He was called up for the second string national side, England Saxons
, in 2011.
Leicester Tigers
Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...
.
Within the Tigers squad he is nicknamed 36. This comes from club captain Geordan Murphy
Geordan Murphy
Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy is an Irish rugby union rugby player and plays fullback or wing for the English club Leicester Tigers and Ireland....
saying 'Twelvetrees', but with his Irish accent it sounded like 'twelve threes'... and twelve threes are thirty six.
Career
As a junior, Twelvetrees played for Pulborough, Horsham and Haywards Heath. He joined the Leicester Tigers academy from Leicester Lions in 2007, and moved to Bedford BluesBedford Blues
Bedford Blues is a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the largest towns in England without a league football club, and one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The...
for the 2008–09 season. After an outstanding season for Bedford, in which he scored 18 tries, 16 conversions and 13 penalties, he re-signed for Tigers in 2009.
He made his first appearance for Leicester in the Heineken Cup
Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...
on 11 October, filling in for Dan Hipkiss
Dan Hipkiss
Daniel James Hipkiss is a professional Rugby Union player who currently plays at Centre for Bath Rugby. Hipkiss has represented England at U16, U17, U18, U21 and England A. His full England début came versus Wales in a World Cup warm up match at Twickenham on 4 August 2007.He went to school at...
, who was ruled out just prior to kick-off. Despite making his debut with just 10-minutes' notice, he won Man of the Match, scoring a try in a 14-point haul. Unfortunately, he was injured in his next match and ruled out for a large part of the season. He went on to make just six appearances in 2009–10, scoring four tries.
In the opening games of the 2010–11 season, Leicester lost Toby Flood
Toby Flood
Tobias Gerald Albert Lieven "Toby" Flood is an English rugby union player. He currently plays at fly half or inside centre for Leicester Tigers, having signed from Newcastle Falcons, and England.-Background:...
, Jeremy Staunton
Jeremy Staunton
Jeremy Staunton is an Irish rugby union fly-half, currently playing for English club Leicester Tigers in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. He has also played for Ireland.He was educated at St Munchin's College Limerick....
and George Ford
George Ford (rugby union)
George Ford is a rugby union footballer who plays for Leicester Tigers. He plays at fly-half. His brother Joe plays for Leeds Carnegie. Born in Oldham, Lancashire he is the son of England defence coach Mike Ford...
to injury and Twelvetrees was again thrust into the starting line-up, this time at fly-half.
He was called up for the second string national side, England Saxons
England Saxons
England Saxons is the current name of England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England A...
, in 2011.