Joshua William R. Basham (born 17 April 1999) is an English rugby player who plays as a flanker for

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 ...

in the

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 ...

. Basham made his professional debut for

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 ...

during the 2017-18 season, eventually making 3 more appearances. Basham transferred away from London Irish to start university at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

, paving the way for him to link up with

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

. In May 2018, Basham was included in the England Under-20 squad for the

2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2018 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the eleventh annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in France by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations played in the tournamen ...

. He was named as a starter in the final, which saw England finish runners up to hosts

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In April 2021, Basham was promoted from the Newcastle Falcons academy to the first team squad for the following season. He returned to London Irish prior to the 2022/23 season. He moved to Japan to play for Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks in the

Japan Rugby League One Japan Rugby League One (), formerly known as the Top League (), is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, b ...

competition on a two-year deal ahead of the 2023-24 season. On 14 May 2025, Basham would return to England to join

back in the

ahead of the 2025-26 season.

References

External links

ESPN Scrum profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Basham, Josh 1999 births Living people Alumni of Hatfield College, Durham Durham University RFC players English rugby union players London Irish players People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Rugby union players from Slough Shimizu Koto Blue Sharks players Newcastle Falcons players