Simon Hammersley (born 20 March 1993) is a former English
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...
player who played as a fullback. He has been nicknamed "Lord Hammer of Hammershire" by
BT Sport
BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Broad ...
commentator
Nick Mullins.
Club career
Hammersley started his career at his local amateur club Hull Ionians in
National League 2 North
National League 2 North is one of three, level four leagues in the English rugby union system and provides semi-professional competition for teams in the northern half of England, the North. The remainder of England is covered by the two counte ...
, before attending
Durham University where he was part of the team who won the
BUCS
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...
national final at Twickenham.
Hammersley signed 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 C ...
in summer 2013 and quickly established himself as a first team player, aided by injury to the regular starting full back
Alex Tait. He was called into the
England Saxons
England A is 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 Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...
squad as injury cover in August 2016
Following Newcastle's relegation to the
RFU Championship
The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, whe ...
, Hammersley invoked a relegation release clause in his contract that would allow him to leave the club should such a situation occur. It was announced shortly afterwards that
Sale Sharks
Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby.
Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the ...
had signed a three-year deal with the fullback, a move which would keep him in the
Premiership.
In May 2022, Hammersley announced his retirement from professional rugby in order to a pursue a career outside the sport.
References
External links
ESPN profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hammersley, Simon
1993 births
Living people
Newcastle Falcons players
Sale Sharks players
English rugby union players
Rugby union players from Kingston upon Hull
Rugby union fullbacks
Durham University RFC players
Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham