Alfie Barbeary (born 5 October 2000) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. having previously focused on hooker.

Early life

Born in

Banbury Banbury is a historic market town on the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, South East England. It had a population of 54,335 at the 2021 Census. Banbury is a significant commercial and retail centre for the surrounding area of north Oxfordshire ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, Barbeary grew up in

Deddington Deddington is a civil parish and small town in Oxfordshire about south of Banbury. The parish includes two hamlets: Clifton and Hempton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,146. Deddington is a small settlement but has a co ...

, starting rugby at age eight with Banbury RUFC. Barbeary was part of the Banbury Rugby Club teams which won several Oxfordshire cups and Land Rover Cups at youth level. He was educated at

Bloxham School Bloxham School, also called All Saints' School, is an Independent school (UK), independent co-educational day and boarding school of the public school (UK), British public school tradition, located in the village of Bloxham, three miles (5 ...

and played in the team which won the u18 National Schools Plate in 2019. He started training with

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

under-15.

Career

Having already captained England under-18 team, he made his debut for the

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

in the

2019 Six Nations The 2019 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 20th Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland ...

game against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, scoring a try after coming on as a replacement hooker. He also made an appearance with England's youth in the World Rugby Championship later that year. Barbeary permanently entered Wasps’ Senior Academy squad for the 2019–20 season. After featuring in a

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

game with the senior team in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

as a substitute hooker, he spent some time in on loan with

Nottingham R.F.C. Nottingham Rugby Club is a rugby union club based in Nottingham, England. The club's first team currently plays in the RFU Championship, the second tier of English Rugby. The first XV are nicknamed The Archers, in reference to the famous Robin ...

during the

2019–20 RFU Championship The 2019–20 RFU Championship, known as the 2019–20 Greene King IPA Championship for sponsorship reasons, was the eleventh season of the RFU Championship, the professional second tier of rugby union in England. It featured eleven English teams ...

, still being dually registered with

. Barbeary made his first start with the

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

club in the Premiership on the 9 September 2020, scoring a hat trick against

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

, making a strong impression playing as a

blindside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes fr ...

. He became only the second player to score a treble on his first Premiership debut, after former Kiwis' winger

Lesley Vainikolo Lesley Paea 'I'muli Vainikolo (born 4 May 1979) is a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. A dual code international, he has played for the New Zealand Kiwis in rugby league and England in rugby union. He began his caree ...

. Barbeary was called by Eddie Jones to the senior England team in November 2020 for the

Autumn Nations Cup The Autumn Nations Cup was a rugby union competition held in November and December 2020 in place of the usual Autumn internationals series typically held in the same period each year, as many teams were avoiding extended travel due to the COVID- ...

final. In the following December, Barbeary made his

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

debut with

, starting as a number 8 in both fixtures against the

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

and

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

. Already successful in Wales, he proved to be instrumental in the home performance against MHR, proving to be a decisive

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, breaking lines and scoring tries, but also showing his

back The human back, also called the dorsum, is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral column run ...

skills with kicks, offloads and try assists, and eventually being named man of the match. Barbeary however ended the year with an ankle

syndesmosis In anatomy, fibrous joints are joints connected by fibrous tissue, consisting mainly of collagen. These are fixed joints where bones are united by a layer of white fibrous tissue of varying thickness. In the skull the joints between the bones are ...

injury, only allowing him to get back on the fields in late March 2021, making the headlines as an early substitute against

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

, allowing his team to win the game after a come-back. Wasps entered administration on 17 October 2022 and Barbeary was made redundant along with all other players and coaching staff. On 20 November 2022, it was confirmed that Barbeary signed for Premiership rivals

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

on a long-term deal from the 2022-23 season.

Style of play

Alfie Barbeary was a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

through most of his youth career, naming

Ma'a Nonu Ma'a Allan Nonu (; born 21 May 1982) is a professional rugby union player from New Zealand who currently plays for the San Diego Legion in Major League Rugby (MLR). He plays in the inside centre, but can also cover outside centre and wing. H ...

and

Mathieu Bastareaud Mathieu Bastareaud (; born 17 September 1988 in Créteil) is a French rugby union player who plays Number 8 for Toulon in the Top 14. Originally a Centre, he played for RC Massy, Stade Français, and then eight seasons at the Toulon with whom ...

as his biggest influences. However, after entering Wasps' under-15 team he moved to the front row, becoming a hooker at both club and international levels. He has also frequently played in the back row, either as a flanker or a number 8. Despite being viewed, including by head coach Eddie Jones', as a hooker in both England's youth and senior teams, — it is in the back row that Barbeary first took the spotlight with Wasps. In November 2021, it was reported that he would focus on the back row, with Jones' blessing.

References

External links

Wasps profileEngland rugby profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbeary, Alfie 2000 births Living people English rugby union players Nottingham R.F.C. players Rugby union centres Rugby union flankers Rugby union hookers Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Banbury Wasps RFC players