Will Cliff

William Cliff (born 17 October 1988) is an English former rugby union player. His position was scrum-half and he made the majority of his career appearances at Sale Sharks.

Will Cliff

Cliff in 2013
Birth name	William Cliff
Date of birth	(1988-10-17) 17 October 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight	13 st 1 lb (83 kg)[1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Scrum-half Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) Sandbach () Macclesfield () Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2006–2015 Sale Sharks 113 (25) 2010 → Glasgow Warriors 0 (0) 2011–2012 → Yorkshire Carnegie 13 (0) 2015–2017 Bristol Rugby 45 (40) 2017–2023 Sale Sharks 121 (114) Correct as of 6 May 2023

Career

Cliff came through the academy of Sale Sharks and made his senior club debut in 2007.^[2][3] In April 2008 he scored his first try for Sale during their 49–24 win over CA Brive in the EPCR Challenge Cup quarter-final.^[4] Later that month he featured in their semi-final elimination against Bath.^[5]

Cliff joined Glasgow Warriors in 2010 with a view to getting a loan deal with the club but registration problems meant that the deal fell through and he returned to Sale.^[6] He spent the 2011–12 RFU Championship campaign with Yorkshire Carnegie.^[7]

After making 113 appearance in his first spell at the club, Cliff left Sale to join Bristol Bears in 2015.^[3][7] In his first season he scored a try in the 2015–16 RFU Championship play-off final against Doncaster Knights which Bristol won to seal promotion to the top flight.^[8]

After two seasons with Bristol, Cliff returned to Sale in 2017.^[2] He started in the 2019–20 Premiership Rugby Cup final which saw Sale beat Harlequins to win their first silverware for fourteen years.^[9] In 2023 it was announced that Cliff had retired.^[10]

Honours

Sale Sharks

• 1× Premiership Rugby Cup: 2019–20^[9]

Bristol

• 1× RFU Championship: 2015–16^[8]

External links

• Sale profile