Daniel John Norton (born 22 March 1988) is a former

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. He is the leading all-time try scorer in the World Rugby Sevens Series with over 350 tries, beating the previous record of 244 held by Kenya's Collins Injera at the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens tournament. A product of Hartpury College, Norton played most of his career as a winger. Norton was part of the

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

academy and dual registered with

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

for both the 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons. Moving on to

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 ...

(Previously Bristol Rugby) from the 2009–10 and 2010–11 seasons. Norton won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics, he scored a try in the final, but was unable to prevent a 43-7 drubbing by Fiji. He helped the England rugby sevens team secure bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast with a 21–14 win over South Africa and the same side that won silver at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco 2018.

International

Norton helped England U20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam title in 2008. He also competed for the England U18s in the 2006–07 season.

Sevens career

Norton made his sevens debut for

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 ...

in 2009. During the 2010–2011 season, Norton's main focus was on

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

, playing in the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

and a regular in the IRB Sevens World Series. Norton has been a core-contracted Sevens player to the RFU since the 2011–12 season. Norton scored 37 tries in the 2011–12 series – second only to England teammate Mat Turner with 38. In December 2012, Norton scored his 100th career try for England against Scotland in

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipal ...

, South Africa. Norton led all try-scorers in the 2012–13 season with 52 tries. He is top of the all-time list of try scorers on the World Rugby Sevens Series. Norton possesses great speed, the ability to sidestep off either foot and the ability to kick off both feet. Norton is one of the quickest players on the 7s circuit, with a personal best for the 40m of 4.78 seconds. Norton announced his retirement from rugby in April 2022 following the Vancouver sevens.

Club

Norton made his name at Hartpury College where his dynamic performances on the wing and at fullback earned him a senior contract with

from 2007 to 2009. He played for

, while on loan from Gloucester, between 2007 and 2009. In 2009, He helped Moseley win the EDF National Trophy when he scored a try against Leeds in the final at Twickenham. In April 2009, it was announced that Norton would be joining

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

for the next season. Norton played the start of the 2009–2010 for Bristol and soon established himself as the top scorer, as Bristol reached the Championship play-off final in 2010, going on to win the British & Irish Cup in 2011. However, after returning from England sevens duty his time with the different format seemed to lose his edge, and was not given enough time to convert, becoming a bit part player for the rest of the season. Although he re-established himself in the B&I Cup winning Bristol side at the end of the 2010–11 season, he was not included in the Bristol retained players list announced at the end of May 2011. Norton joined

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

on a short-term contract in August 2020. He was an ambassador for Mizuno.

Honours

Yes

Bristol

British and Irish Cup The British and Irish Cup was an annual rugby union competition for second tier, semi-professional clubs and the reserves or developing teams from professional clubs from Great Britain and Ireland. It took place for the first time in the 2009� ...

: 2011

England

* Dubai 7s: 2011

References

External links

*
Gloucester Rugby profile

England 7s profile

Dan Norton YouTube Highlights
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Dan 1988 births Living people English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Birmingham Moseley Rugby players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people England international rugby sevens players Rugby union players from Gloucester Rugby sevens players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic rugby sevens players for Great Britain Great Britain international rugby sevens players Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in rugby sevens Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Bristol Bears players English people of South African descent Male rugby sevens players Rugby sevens players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for England Rugby sevens players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in rugby sevens Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century English sportsmen