Batley dreams of England, Prem title and 100 games

Joe Batley has been one of Bristol's most consistent starters for the past three seasons

Bristol lock Joe Batley has three simple ambitions: to become a centurion for the Bears, win the Prem title with the club and play for England.

He came close to achieving a couple in 2024-25, reaching the Prem semi-finals with Bristol and also being repeatedly in and around the England training squad.

But last season was, according to Batley, "weirdly my best and worst" campaign, as back-to-back injuries put him on the sidelines just when it seemed he was on the cusp of something bigger.

"I've never been closer to playing for England but I've also never been that injury-prone," Batley said.

"Every time I came back from one, I had another one creeping up on me. I'm just excited to have the consistency of game time, the consistency of playing well and hopefully the accolades after that will follow."

Batley has been a consistent presence for Bristol ever since he returned to the club in 2022 when former club Worcester collapsed. He has started 54 of the 55 matches he has played in the past three seasons.

Yet he was limited to only 11 games during the last campaign. He fractured his leg in November when he was due to play for England A against Australia A.

Batley returned in January and played six minutes of a Champions Cup game against Benetton before a toe injury, that needed surgery, ruled him out until May.

He was called up to an England training camp that month but then suffered a knee injury during the semi-final defeat to Bath which meant a possible tour with the national side to Argentina and the USA over the summer went awry.

Still, such was his impact, he was still named in the Prem team of the season.

Batley began his career in Gloucester's academy but in 2018, while playing for Bristol in the Championship, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma aged 21, and underwent chemotherapy.

Two years later he signed for Worcester in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, but saw his career again hanging in the balance when the club folded in October 2022.

Now seven years in remission and with a son and a daughter on the way with his partner, the experiences have given Batley a different perspective on his career.

"When I went through all the cancer stuff, I was still quite young and naive. At no point did I think it was going to be the end rugby wise," he said.

"It wasn't until Covid happened and life stopped and everyone had time to reflect that I really came to terms with what I'd been through.

"I could have been looking for jobs, thinking about what could have been, what I might have done when I hadn't achieved anywhere near what I wanted to within the game.

"A lot of things are really positive and exciting and I'm keeping one eye on that, but also just being in the building, being on the pitch on the weekend is massive for me," he said.

Batley has started all but one of the matches he has played since returning to Bristol

Bristol's attack-minded style suits the way Batley likes to play and it is his work around defence where he thinks he can make more improvements.

"I like to think that my running game, being at Bristol, is quite good with ball in hand and it'll probably be a bit more of that dominance around the collision in defence I need to work on," he said.

"It's about coupling the two up to get the best package."

He knows that with fellow second-rows Maro Itoje and Ollie Chessum back in the England fold, having been away with the Lions this summer, and George Martin expected to return in the New Year, his chances of pushing into the national side have got "harder" this year.

"It was a good year for me with two second-rows getting called up to the Lions. It means the depth chart grows a bit and if I manage to sneak in there, that was my opportunity," he said.

"All I know is if I play my best game then I've given myself the best opportunity."