Key Facts
| Squad | Leicester Tigers |
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| Position | Centre/Fly Half |
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| Age | 23 |
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| Height | 1.91m (6'3") |
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| Weight | 100kg (15st 10lb) |
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| Caps | 0 Test Appearances |
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Whenever Billy Twelvetrees makes his debut for a team, the impression has been as striking as his unusual surname. A newcomer to the 2010-11 squad, he did not play in a national age group representative side but after 11 Aviva Premiership matches won a Saxons call in January.
On his third start for the side, he not only scored his maiden try, one of England’s thirteen in the opening Churchill Cup game against the USA at Northampton in June, but was also named as man of the match. Eight days later, he gathered at pace a right-footed grubber kick by Jordan Crane for his second try in the 41-14 win over Tonga at Kingsholm. By then, he had appeared in 15 Premiership games for Leicester Tigers, scored 85 points and also proved his worth as a more than useful goal-kicker.
His first game for the Tigers testified to his temperament with a man of the match performance that included 14 points in the 32-32 Heineken Cup draw with the Ospreys in October 2009. Billy was told he was starting at inside centre only ten minutes before kick off when Dan Hipkiss withdrew through illness. No nerves there, then. He said: "It remains my most memorable game."
Rewinding the clock further, he produced a four-try display when first appearing for Bedford Blues against Manchester in 2008-09, the season when his 18 tries made him joint leading scorer in the Championship with Nottingham’s David Jackson.
Moving on, Billy kicked a penalty from half way among the five he landed during his first appearance against a senior national side, an Australia XV, at Welford Road in his side’s 26-15 defeat last November.
Ten days later, he extended his sequence of successful place kicks for Tigers to 16 with six penalties and more ‘man of the match’ kudos in the 18-13 Premiership victory over Harlequins at Welford Road. Chichester-born Billy played for Pulborough from U5-U10 levels with twin brothers Joseph and Matthew and Jonathan, the eldest sibling.
Billy continued: “Our mum Beverly was the driving force behind it all, really.” His dad Kevin is still a busy man, watching Joe and Matt play at Pulborough, Jon at Guildford and Billy at Leicester.
Billy was educated at Wisborough Green Primary and the Weald Secondary School in Billingshurst, West Sussex also played for Haywards Heath, Leicester Lions and on a dual registration with Nottingham.
Nick Walshe, the former Bath and England scrum half, was “a huge help at Bedford” in Billy’s words. He added: "I’m studying to become an accountant, trying to learn the guitar and Welford Road is a great ground. But I do enjoy going to Kingsholm and playing there."
He has appeared mostly at centre but had a season at fly half for Bedford and has figured there in a few games for Leicester, where ‘Twelvetrees’ is now just as famous a name as in Sussex.
