William George Wand (born 31 December 2001) is an English professional

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 for

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 ...

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 ...

. His usual positions are

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

. He previously played for

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Early life

Wand joined Spalding RFC at the age of four and progressed through the age ranks. He also attended

Spalding Grammar School Spalding Grammar School (SGS), fully known as The Queen Elizabeth Royal Free Grammar School Spalding, is an 11–18 boys' grammar school in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. By November 2015, a total of 985 boys were enrolled at the school, 277 ...

and had planned on studying his

A-levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

there, but dropped out after 2 days. He then joined

Brooksby Melton College SMB College Group, formerly Brooksby Melton College and Stephenson College, is a further education college based in Leicestershire. The college has three campuses: Stephenson Campus is in Coalville, Melton Campus is in the heart of Melton Mowbr ...

to continue studying and playing rugby in the ACE league. After leaving college, Wand worked on a building site whilst playing for

Career

Cambridge

Wand made his debut for

in September 2021, after signing for the club a month prior, in a

National League 1 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

match against

Rams RFC Rams Rugby Football Club is an English rugby union club based near the village of Sonning on the outskirts of Reading in the county of Berkshire. The first XV play in the third-level league of the English rugby union system, National League 1, f ...

at 19 years old. On 11 December 2021, Wand earned his first start of the season in his favoured position of

outside centre In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

and was named

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

after scoring two tries against league leaders Rosslyn Park and received National 1 player of the week shortly after. He finished the 2021-22 season with 20 appearances and 7 tries.

Coventry

After an impressive debut senior season in

, Wand earned a move to

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

ahead of the 2022-23 season. On 9 September 2022, Wand made his

debut for

at home against

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. History Foundation and 19th century Bedford RUFC was founded in 1886 after an amalgamation between Bedford Rove ...

. He finished the 2022-23 season with 19 appearances and 3 tries. It was announced that Wand had re-signed with Coventry ahead of the 2023-24 season. On 8 September 2023, Wand was named

in Coventry's first game of the season after scoring against

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

in the newly formed

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 ...

competition. Coventry won the game 28-14. Wand won the Championship’s ''Player of the Month'' award for September 2023 after outstanding performances in the

. He scored 2 tries in 4 appearances. On 23 March 2024, Wand equalled a Coventry club record against

Hartpury Hartpury is a civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It has an area of about . Hartpury Parish Council estimates 700 people live in around 270 houses. The population of the central village area within the parish was estimated at 550 people by ...

after scoring 4 tries in a league match. Wand claimed Coventry’s 2023/24 ''Players’ Player'' award after he finished the season with 23 appearances, 22 of which came as part of the starting line-up, and scored 14 tries altogether. Wand was named in the 2023/24

‘''Team of the Season’.''

Leicester Tigers

On 21 June 2024,

announced the signing of Wand for the 2024–25 season. Wand made his Premiership debut on 5 October 2024 at

Kingston Park Kingston Park is a suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne, about north west of the city centre. It is home to several large retailers, the largest being one of Tesco's flagship stores—at 11,055 square metres (119,000 sq ft) which was also t ...

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 ...

and scored an intercept try with his first touch of the ball. In an impressive debut Premiership campaign, Wand made an immediate impact within the team with 11 appearances and an impressive 7 tries.

Personal life

Wand has a younger brother, Tom, who played in the

academy as a loosehead prop. As of the beginning of the 2024-25 season, he signed for National 2 North team

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield Tigers (sponsored by Tru Plant) are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. They were founded in 1929 an ...

Early life

Career

Cambridge

Coventry

Leicester Tigers

Personal life

Career statistics

References

External links