Dietrich Peter Roache (born 6 July 2001) is an Australian professional rugby union player who plays as a wing for Shute Shield club Western Sydney Two Blues and the Australia national sevens team.

Early life

Born of Samoan descent from his father, Roache initially played rugby league for his school, Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield. Whilst there, he was a part of the Patrician Brothers rugby league team that won the

NRL Schoolboy Cup The NRL Schoolboy Cup is the premier secondary schools rugby league competition in Australia, held annually since 1975. Formerly known under such names as the Amco Shield, Commonwealth Bank Cup, Arrive Alive Cup and GIO Schoolboy Cup nearly 450 s ...

. Roache is a Roman Catholic.

International career

Though his father and uncle played rugby for the former Parramatta Two Blues, Roache did not start playing club rugby until 2018. This came after getting a free ticket to the Sydney Sevens in 2018. He gained a reputation as a fast player, being able to run a time of 4.59 seconds over 40 metres. This matched the time of Trae Williams who missed selection for the

Australian Olympic team Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

for the

2020 Olympic Games The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

as a result. He was selected for the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

' Junior under-18 team and part of their development programme. In 2019, he played for Australia at the World Rugby School Sevens and a year later was signed by Rugby Australia to their sevens programme. In 2021, when he was selected for the Australia national rugby sevens team for their 2020 Olympics rugby sevens tournament, he was the youngest member of the team and was given responsibility for taking care of the team's mascot Wally. This followed on from

Henry Hutchison Henry Hutchison (born 12 February 1997) is a professional rugby union player who represents Australia in rugby sevens. Born in Sydney, NSW and playing for Randwick at club level, he debuted for Australia in December 2015. Hutchison attend ...

at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

where Wally was kidnapped by players from the

Sweden women's national football team The Sweden women's national football team ( sv, Svenska damfotbollslandslaget) represents Sweden at international women's association football competitions and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association. History The Swedish team has be ...

for 24 hours. Roache competed for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

at the

2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the eighth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens organised by World Rugby. The 2022 tournament, comprising 24 men's and 16 women's teams as previously, was played over three days in one venue in September. It ...

in Cape Town.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roache, Dietrich 2001 births Living people People educated at Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield Male rugby sevens players Olympic rugby sevens players for Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games competitors for Australia Rugby sevens players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Parramatta Two Blues players Australian Roman Catholics Australian sportspeople of Samoan descent Sportsmen from New South Wales 21st-century Australian people