Dan Norton

Daniel John Norton (born 22 March 1988) is a rugby union player. He is the leading all-time try scorer in rugby sevens history with over 350 tries, beating the previous record of 244 held by Kenya's Collins Injera at the 2017 Hong Kong Sevens tournament.[1]

Dan Norton
Birth nameDaniel John Norton
Date of birth (1988-03-22) 22 March 1988
Place of birthGloucester, England
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight85 kg (187 lb)
SchoolBrockworth Enterprise School
UniversityHartpury College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing, Fullback
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007–2009 Gloucester 1 (0)
2007–2009 → Moseley (loan) 37 (120)
2009–2011 Bristol 31 (90)
2011– Hartpury College 7 (55)
2020 London Irish ()
National sevens team(s)
Years Team Comps
2009– England
2016 Great Britain 1
Medal record
Men's rugby sevens
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de JaneiroTeam competition
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
2018 Gold CoastTeam competition

A product of Hartpury College, Norton played most his career as a winger. Norton was part of the Gloucester academy and dual registered with Moseley for both the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. Moving on to Bristol Bears (Previously Bristol Rugby) from the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons.

Norton competed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics where 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.

During the 2010–2011 season, Norton's main focus was on the 7s format, playing in the Commonwealth Games 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, South Africa.[2][3] Norton led all try-scorers in the 2012–13 season with 52 tries. Norton is top of the all-time list of try scorers on the World Rugby Sevens Series.[4]

Norton has exceptional pace,[5] the ability to sidestep of either foot, and with a good kicking game. Norton is one of the quickest players on the 7s circuit, with a personal best for the 40m of 4.78 seconds.

Club

Norton made his name at Hartpury College where his dynamic performances on the wing and at fullback earned him a senior contract with Gloucester from 2007 to 2009. He was instrumental in helping Moseley (on loan from Gloucester) win the EDF National Trophy in 2009, scoring a try against Leeds in the final at Twickenham.

In April 2009, it was announced that Norton would be joining Bristol 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.

He joined London Irish on a short-term contract in August 2020.[6]

Norton is an ambassador for Mizuno Rugby.

Honours

Moseley

Bristol

England

References
  1. "World Rugby Sevens: England's Dan Norton scores record-breaking try". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  2. "Hosts and Portugal impress at SA Sevens". worldrugby.org. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  3. "Dan Norton grabs his 100th try as England head to the Bowl again". ur7s.com. 8 December 2012. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  4. http://www.irbsevens.com/statistics/allintpointdetails.html
  5. Mairs, Gavin (10 May 2012), "England sevens wing Dan Norton puts his Usain Bolt speed to good effect in world series", The Daily Telegraph
  6. "England 7s legend Dan Norton signs short-term deal with London Irish | 17th August 2020 | News". London Irish. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
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