Billy Dutton (born 9 June 1989) is a South African

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player, currently playing with the . He is a utility forward that can play as a lock, flanker or number eight.

Playing career

Dutton joined the Border Bulldogs academy after high school and he played for the side in the 2009 Provincial Championship, where he made six appearances. In 2010, Dutton was also included in the squad for the

2010 Vodacom Cup The 2010 Vodacom Cup was contested from 26 February to 7 May. The 2010 Vodacom Cup is the 13th edition of this annual domestic cup competition. The Vodacom Cup is played between provincial rugby union teams in South Africa from the Currie Cup Prem ...

and made his first class debut on 26 February 2010, playing off the bench in an 8–69 defeat to a in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

in their opening match of the season. He again played at Under-21 level in 2010, making five appearances and scoring a try in a match against the s. Dutton made a further two first class appearances for the Border Bulldogs during the

2011 Vodacom Cup The 2011 Vodacom Cup was contested from 25 February to 13 May 2011. The tournament was the 14th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South A ...

competition, coming on as a replacement in matches against the and the . 2011 also saw the launch of a second-tier competition to the

Varsity Cup Varsity Cup is the collective name for four South African rugby union competitions involving the top rugby playing universities in the country. It was launched in 2008, with eight teams participating in the Varsity Cup competition and each univers ...

, called the Varsity Shield. Dutton represented the in this competition between

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

and

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, also captaining the side during the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

season. In 2015, Dutton represented amateur club side Old Selbornians in the

2015 SARU Community Cup The 2015 SARU Community Cup (known as the ''2015 Cell C Community Cup'' for sponsorship reasons) will be the third season of the SARU Community Cup competition. The qualification to the tournament will take place in 2014, while the competition ...

, scoring a try against defending champions and eventual runners-up Rustenburg Impala. He was recalled to the Border Bulldogs shortly after the conclusion of the SARU Community Cup and – after a four-year absence – returned to provincial rugby, making five appearances for his side in the

2015 Vodacom Cup The 2015 Vodacom Cup was contested from 6 March to 30 May 2015. The tournament was the 18th edition of the Vodacom Cup, an annual domestic South African rugby union competition, and was played between the fourteen provincial teams in South Africa ...

, which included an appearance off the bench in their only victory of the competition, when they beat the 29–5. He was retained in the squad for the Border Bulldogs'

2015 Currie Cup qualification The 2015 Currie Cup qualification tournament was a competition organised by the South African Rugby Union which featured seven teams and was played between 12 June and 25 July 2015. The winner of the tournament would qualify for the 2015 Currie Cu ...

campaign and – after being an unused replacement in their 20–13 victory over eventual champions – made his Currie Cup debut in their match against the in Welkom. He made one more appearance in the competition in their match against the as Border, by virtue of finishing in sixth position, qualified for the

2015 Currie Cup First Division The 2015 Currie Cup First Division was contested from 29 August to 8 October 2015. The tournament (also known as the Absa Currie Cup First Division for sponsorship reasons) was the second tier of South Africa's premier domestic rugby union compet ...

. Dutton firmly established himself in the squad during that competition, starting all five of their matches in the number eight shirt. However, his side had another poor season, losing their first four matches before bouncing back to beat the 44–20 in their final match of the season. At the start of 2016, Dutton was one of six Border Bulldogs players that joined the '

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

squad for a trial period as they prepared for the

2016 Super Rugby season The 2016 Super Rugby season was the 21st season of Super Rugby and the first season featuring an expanded 18-team format. It was also the first season that teams outside Australia, New Zealand and South Africa featured, with the Jaguares from Ar ...

. However, he returned to Border Bulldogs after he failed to be contracted for the Super Rugby side.

Statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dutton, Billy 1989 births Living people Border Bulldogs players Rugby union flankers Rugby union locks Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from East London, South Africa South African rugby union players Eastern Province Elephants players