Alex Joseph Dombrandt (born 29 April 1997) is an English professional

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player who plays as a number eight for

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

club Harlequins and the

England national team Team England usually refers to the name under which athletes representing Commonwealth Games England compete. England team or Team England may refer to: *Commonwealth Games England *England national football team *England cricket team *England nat ...

Early life

Dombrandt began playing rugby at the age of six for Warlingham R.F.C and Old Caterhamians in

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, originally at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

before switching into the forwards pack. He attended

The John Fisher School The John Fisher School is a Roman Catholic voluntary-aided boys' faith school based at Peaks Hill, near Purley, South London. The school is located in and funded by the London Borough of Sutton. It occupies the former site of the 19th-century ...

as a pupil. He attended the school alongside future Harlequins teammate and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international Kieran Treadwell. He played no rugby for representative sides or a professional academy before joining

Cardiff Metropolitan University Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

in 2015. In the summer months when not playing rugby, Dombrandt can be found indulging in the preseason training tradition of professional egg catching on the beaches of Dorset.

Club career

In February 2018, Harlequins announced Dombrandt's signature for the following season. Dombrandt reduced his weight from 130 kg (at university) to 120 kg by the 2019-2020 season. He scored a try during Harlequins 43-36 defeat of

Bristol Bears Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

in the Premiership semi-final, a game in which Quins recovered from a 28 point deficit to win. He started the following week in the Premiership final against

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an England, English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played i ...

and scored another try as Harlequins won the game 40-38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever. In April 2024, he started for Harlequins in their Champions Cup Round of 16 victory over

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

, winning 28-24 at

The Stoop Twickenham Stoop Stadium (informally referred to as The Stoop) is a stadium located in south-west London, England, situated just across the road from Twickenham Stadium. The stadium is home to the Harlequins in Premiership Rugby and has a ...

, the first time the club had ever won a knockout game in the competition. The following week he scored a try against Bordeaux Begles, winning 42-41, to give them their second ever victory in the knockout stages of the competition and the first time they have achieved this away. Ahead of the 2024-25 season, he was named permanent captain of Harlequins taking over from

Stephan Lewies Joseph Stephanus Theuns Lewies (born 27 January 1992) is a South African rugby union player for the in the Premiership in England. His regular position is lock. Career Youth He played for the side in 2011 and for the s in 2012 and 2013, st ...

. In December 2024, he scored a hat-trick in their opening home fixture of the 2024–25 Champions Cup in a 56—19 win over the

Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...

. In February 2025, he scored a try and captained the side in the Premiership Cup against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

during his 150th appearance for the club.

International career

He played for Wales under 20s in all five of their games in the

2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2017 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, was the 10th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Wales were the defending champions. The competition was won by England, who complet ...

, qualifying as a resident student at a Welsh university. However he has no birth, family or residency qualifications to play for at Test level. Dombrandt's form for Harlequins led to calls from

Stuart Barnes Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962 in Grays, Essex) is a former English rugby union footballer, and now rugby commentator for Sky Sports. Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England at international level. ...

and others for him to be included in the international squad. On 2 June 2019, Dombrandt made his England debut, playing in a non-cap match against the

Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...

, in which he scored two tries. In June 2019, he was one of four uncapped players named in England's preliminary

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

training squad but was not selected for the tournament. On 10 July 2021, Dombrandt made his senior

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

debut in a 70-14 victory against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. In February 2025, following an impressive performance against Saracens in the Premiership Cup, Dombrandt was recalled to the senior training squad midway through the

2025 Six Nations The 2025 Men's Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons and branded as M6N) was a rugby union competition that took place from late January to mid-March 2025, featuring the men's national teams of E ...

ahead of their fixture against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

Career statistics

List of international tries

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Twickenham Stadium Twickenham Stadium (; usually known as Twickenham, and for sponsorship purposes known as the Allianz Stadium Twickenham) is a rugby union stadium in Twickenham, London, England. It is owned by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), the English rugby u ...

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2022 Six Nations Championship The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, ...

References

External links

Alex Dombrandt
at England Rugby * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dombrandt, Alex 1997 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Harlequin F.C. players Rugby union number eights Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Rugby union players from Surrey People educated at The John Fisher School