Tyler Offiah (born 29 June 2006) is an English rugby union player who plays for

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground, Bath, Rec ...

. He is the son of

Martin Offiah Martin Nwokocha Offiah MBE ( (''original pronunciation''), (''commonly used'')); born 29 December 1965) is an English former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Offiah was inducted ...

Early life

Offiah joined

Ealing Trailfinders Ealing Trailfinders Rugby Club is an English professional rugby union club based in West London. The club's first team are the reigning RFU Championship champions of 2024–25 but were considered ineligible for promotion to Premiership Rugby a ...

aged five years-old and attended

St Benedict's School, Ealing St Benedict's School, usually referred to as St Benedict's, is a British co-educational, independent Catholic day school for pupils aged 3-18 situated in Ealing, West London. A Benedictine school, it accepts and educates pupils of all faiths. H ...

. He was part of the

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 ...

academy and became part of the London and South Central academy, funded by the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

. He completed his A-Levels at

Wellington College, Berkshire Wellington College is a co-educational public school providing education for boarding and day pupils in the village of Crowthorne, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. Wellington is a registered charity and currently educates roughly 1,100 pu ...

, received an offer from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

to study Politics and International Relations. A multi-sport athlete, he also played

American Football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

for

London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...

as a

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

for Richmond Warriors. He has also worked as a model for the Sandra Reynolds Model Agency in London.

Club career

He trained with

side

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors is an English professional rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club competes in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby league system. Formed in 1872, the club is a founding member of the Ru ...

without signing a professional contract. He signed a professional contract with

ahead of the 2024/25 season. Reportedly, Offiah also had offers from

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches ...

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

and

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. Upon his signing, Bath head of rugby

Johann van Graan Johann Christoffel van Graan (born 18 March 1980) is a South African rugby union coach, currently the head coach for Bath. Coaching career Although Van Graan did not have a top level playing career, he had a family background in rugby and sho ...

said "What impresses me about Tyler is his speed, spatial awareness, finishing ability and a natural understanding of playing the game". He scored his first try for Bath in a 78-19

Premiership Rugby Cup The Premiership Rugby Cup is an English rugby union knockout cup competition for teams in Premiership Rugby and from the 2023–24 season the RFU Championship. It was created in 2018 to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup after the withdrawal of the Wels ...

victory over

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 November 2024. He made his first competitive start in the quarterfinal victory of that competition against

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 ...

on 28 February 2025. He scored a try within ten minutes of his league debut for Bath against Saracens in May 2025.

International career

He made his England U18 debut in April 2024 at the U18 Six Nations Rugby Festival in Italy. He was called-up to train with

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

in September 2024. In June 2025, he was named in the England U20 squad for the

2025 World Rugby U20 Championship The 2025 World Rugby U20 Championship (), also known as Italia 2025, is the 15th edition of the premier age-grade (World Rugby Under-20 Championship) rugby union competition. It is to be held from 29 June to 19 July in Italy, being hosted in the c ...

Style of play

At 6 ft 3" he is taller than his father, although also plays on the wing. He has been described as having "exceptional speed, strength, and scoring prowess.” England U18 head coach Jonathan Pendlebury compared him to his father speaking to ''RugbyPass'' saying "They othlike scoring tries…he ylerlikes playing rugby with a smile on his face."

Personal life

The son of former cross-code rugby international

and his wife Virginia, he has stated that he is a fan of

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...

. He took part in Judo, athletics and basketball as a youngster. His younger brother Phoenix is in the

Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club is a professional association football club based in Brentford, England. The team competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Nicknamed "The Bees", the club was founded in 1889 and played home matc ...

development system. His cousin Odeluga Offiah is a professional footballer. He has Nigerian heritage through his paternal grandparents, his grandfather George was working as a magistrate in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

at the time of his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offiah, Tyler 2006 births Living people English people of Nigerian descent English rugby union players People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Rugby union wings Bath Rugby players Black British sportsmen 21st-century English sportsmen