Zach Mercer

Zach Mercer was voted the best player in the French championship in 2022, having played 26 of Montpellier’s 28 league matches and started the final they won. He then went home to Gloucester specifically to become eligible for England again. Steve Borthwick left him out of the 41-man World Cup squad.

No 8 at Toulon, 1.91m and 108kg, and 29 years old.

Born in Leeds and raised in Halifax, he moved to Scotland at eight and went through school in Glasgow, playing for the Warriors academy and for Scotland under-16s on residency. Bath took him back to England in 2016.

He captained England under-20s to a Grand Slam in 2017 and was voted the Premiership young player of the season ahead of Ellis Genge and Joe Marchant. A junior world title had come the year before.

France is where he became a great player. In the 2022 Top 14 final he grubbered the kick that Arthur Vincent scored the opening try from, and finished the season with 31 appearances, five tries, the player of the year award and a place in the team of the season.

The English return brought a domestic cup, won 23-13 against Leicester and Gloucester’s first trophy in nine years, a losing Challenge Cup final against the Sharks, no England cap, and a serious knee injury that ended his 2024-25 season early.

France got him back for 2025-26. One of the outstanding back-row forwards of his generation, and a reminder that eligibility rules decide careers as much as form does.