Henry Arundell

Henry Arundell (born 8 November 2002) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a fullback for Top 14 club Racing 92 and the England national team.

Early life
Arundell was born on Cyprus in 2002, at the then Royal Air Force base in Dhekelia; a Sovereign Base Area and British Overseas Territory. He spent the first two years of his life on Cyprus before moving back to the United Kingdom.

His father, Ralph Arundell, was an army officer in The Rifles (formerly The Light Infantry) for thirty years, completing tours in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. His mother, Jane Arundell, is a nurse and health visitor working for the NHS.

Arundell started his sporting career at a young age, excelling at various sports while a pupil at Holt VC Primary School. He subsequently attended Beechen Cliff School in nearby Bath. After his father joined the staff of Harrow School, Arundell enrolled at the all-boys London boarding school, putting him in the catchment area for London Irish's academy, which he joined aged fourteen.

London Irish
In the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2022, a number of Arundell's performances drew attention, including two tries against Leicester Tigers in a semi-final; a 20-minute substitute appearance against Wasps, scoring a try and being named Man of the Match, and a try that started on his own goal-line against Toulon.

His performances for London Irish saw him named as Premiership Rugby's young player of the season for 2021–22. On 10 June 2022, Arundell signed a new "long term" contract with London Irish.

Racing 92
After London Irish collapsed into administration in June 2023, Arundell joined Grand Paris-based French side Racing 92. After the Rugby World Cup, he played his first game for the Sky Blue and Whites at Toulon on 12 November and scored a hat-trick in a 31–26 narrow loss.

On 12 December, Racing 92 announced his contract extension until 2026, despite outside interest from Premiership Rugby clubs like Bath or Gloucester as well as National Rugby League teams.

International career
Arundell was highlighted as "one to watch" in the 2022 Six Nations Under 20s Championship, and was the competition's joint-top try scorer, scoring four.

Arundell was named as an "apprentice player" in 's squad for their 2022 tour of Australia. He scored a try, from his first touch, on his debut on 2 July 2022, coming on from the bench. As of July 2023, he has 7 international caps. Arundell was named in England's 2023 Rugby World Cup squad on 7 August 2023, scoring a joint England record 5 tries on his World Cup debut against Chile on 23 September 2023 in a 71–0 win.

List of international tries
As of 23 September 2023