Joseph Connor Rhys Heyes (born 13 April 1999) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team. He was a Premiership Rugby champion in 2022.
Club career
Heyes began playing rugby at age 14, originally a football goalkeeper for Nottingham Forest he initially played outside centre for Nottingham Moderns RFC and then moved to Newark before joining Leicester Tigers academy at 16 and switching position to prop. Heyes was loaned to Loughborough Students RUFC in the 2017/18 National One season and featured in 17 games.
Heyes made his debut for Leicester Tigers on 16 September 2018 against Wasps at the Ricoh Arena in a 35–41 defeat in round three of the 2018–19 Premiership Rugby season. After a seven-minute cameo in Leicester's 23–15 win against Northampton Saints at Twickenham Heyes was named in RUGBYPASS's team of the week.
On 21 June 2019 Heyes signed a new contract with Leicester. 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 youngest prop in professional club era history to do so, aged just 23. Heyes played as a replacement in the 2022 Premiership Rugby final as Tigers beat Saracens 15-12.
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