A former member of Nottingham Forest Football Academy, Joe Heyes, was a goalkeeper, like his father Darren and his grandad Bob, but found his rugby niche when joining Nottingham Moderns at the age of 14.
The Tigers prop was named in the England Under-18 squad for a three-match tour of South Africa in August 2017.
He played in all nine England U18 matches in 2017 and was a maiden try-scorer in the 45-24 win over Scotland in the U18 International Series at Ystrad Mynach in April.
In January 2018 he was named in the England u20s squad for the 2017/18 season.
After playing in the Under-20s Six Nations as one of the youngest members of the squad, he went to the World Junior Championship in France during the summer of 2018 and played in every round including the Final.
In 2019, Heyes was included in England’s U20 Six Nations squad but failed to make his debut. After the interrupted 2020 Six Nations he was again included in the squad to face the Barbarians and the final round of the Championship
After another 24 appearances for Tigers in 2019/20, he was among 12 uncapped players called into an England training camp at the end of the season ahead of the autumn series.
Heyes made his full England debut on 4 July 2021 against the United States at Twickenham
In May 2021 Heyes was a second-half substitute as Leicester were defeated by Montpellier in the final of the European Rugby Challenge Cup.
Heyes made his 100th Leicester Tigers appearance on 11 June 2022 against Northampton Saints in the Gallagher Premiership Semi-Final, the 2nd youngest prop in club history to do so.
He played as a replacement in the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat Saracens 15-12
S.C June 2023
Career
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Leicester Tigers Tighthead Prop |
2018 - present |
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England Tighthead Prop |
2020 - present |
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England U20's Loosehead Prop |
2018 - 2019 |
