Damien Varley (born 29 October 1983) is a former

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

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 who represented

Munster Munster ( gle, an Mhumhain or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the south of Ireland. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" ( ga, rí ruirech). Following the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. He played as a hooker. Varley was forced to retire from rugby in February 2015, due to a foot injury.

Early life

Varley was educated in a boarding school,

St. Munchin's College St. Munchin's College is a second-level education college located in Corbally, Limerick, Ireland. The school was founded in 1796. It is a Diocesan CollegeDiocese of Limerick > Education > Post Primary or minor seminary. College Crest The colle ...

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

where he scored two tries as Munchin's won the

Munster Schools Rugby Senior Cup The Munster Schools Senior Cup or Munster Senior Cup is the under-age rugby union competition for schools affiliated to the Munster Branch of the IRFU. The inaugural Munster Schools Senior Cup took place in 1909 and, since then, Cork city's two ...

final in 2002. He studied at the University of Limerick.

Munster

Varley made his senior debut for Munster as a replacement in a

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

fixture against Ospreys on 5 May 2006.

London Wasps

Varley joined English club side

London Wasps Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

on a one-year contract on 26 September 2008, and scored a try for his new club less than a day later in a late win against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

Return to Munster

Varley rejoined his native province for the start of the 2009–10 season, and went on to play a total of 22 games for Munster that season, including his

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

debut as a replacement against Benetton Treviso on 17 October 2009. He started for Munster in their historic 15–6 victory against

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 ...

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and has Munster Rugby, Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park fr ...

on 16 November 2010. Varley also started for Munster when they beat arch-rivals, and newly crowned Heineken Cup champions,

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

19–9 in the

2011 Magners League Grand Final The 2010-11 Celtic League Grand Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Celtic League season. The final was won by Munster who defeated Leinster by 19–9 at Thomond Park to claim their third Celtic League title. Background and Build Up 2010 ...

. He signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in February 2013. Varley captained Munster in their 2013-14 Heineken Cup 24-16 semi-final defeat to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

on 27 April 2014.

Ireland

Varley joined the Ireland squad for the 2010 Summer Tour as cover for Jerry Flannery, and was selected for the New Zealand Barbarians for their match against New Zealand Maori, after the IRFU agreed to release two players for the fixture, but had to withdraw from the squad due to a back injury. He came on as a substitute for Ireland against the Maori a week later, and was named on the bench for Ireland's game against Australia, coming on to win his first cap in the last few minutes. He was named in the Ireland squad for the 2010 Autumn Tests, and came on against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. Varley was selected in Ireland's training squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Af ...

warm-ups in August, but was left out of the final squad. However, during training at the World Cup,

Jerry Flannery Jeremiah Paul Flannery (born 17 October 1978) is a former Irish rugby union player and current coach. During his playing career, Flannery, a hooker, played for Munster and Ireland, before being forced to retire in March 2012 due to injury prob ...

suffered an injury and Varley was called up to replace him in the squad. He was selected in the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (formerly Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. They previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Saxons, the national teams ...

squad for their game against

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

in January 2012. Varley was called into Ireland's training squad for the

2013 Six Nations Championship The 2013 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2013 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 14th series of the Six Nations Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship ...

on 21 January 2013. He came on as a replacement during Ireland Wolfhounds friendly with England Saxons on 25 January 2013. Varley was named in the Ireland squad for their 2014 Tour to Argentina on 19 May 2014. He came off the bench in the first test against

on 7 June 2014.

References

External links

Munster ProfileIreland Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varley, Damien Living people 1983 births People educated at St Munchin's College Irish rugby union players Garryowen Football Club players Munster Rugby players Munster Rugby captains Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union hookers