Paul Henry Sackey (born 8 November 1979) is a retired English

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 ...

footballer who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

, most recently for Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership. He is an

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international. He has also played for the

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 ...

and the

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

team. He is of

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

heritage and attended the Roman Catholic John Fisher School in Purley.

Early career

Born on 8 November 1979 in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Sackey started playing rugby at 17, when he was a pupil at the Roman Catholic John Fisher School in Purley, and started out as 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 eccentri ...

or fullback. His pace earned him an immediate call up to the school's 1st XV and he was a member of their Sevens team that won the Rosslyn Park Nationals Sevens tournament two years running. Sackey was spotted by a

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. ...

scout, and went on to play for Wasps U19s and U21s.

Andy Gomarsall Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall MBE (born 24 July 1974, in Durham) is a former rugby union player who played at scrum-half for Leeds Carnegie and England. He previously played for Gloucester Rugby, Bedford and Wasps. Until May 2006 he was cont ...

took Sackey on a sevens trip to Lisbon and, realising his potential, arranged his move to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

. While at Bedford he was called up to the England under-21 squad that played in the under-21 World Cup in New Zealand, before signing professional forms with

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

and joining them in August 2000. That year he also played for the

team in

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 ...

Club career

He topped the London Irish try scoring list in the 2000–01 Zurich Premiership, and in four years scored 43 tries in 121 Premiership appearances. He played for London Irish when they beat

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

38–7 in the 2002

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

final. He left London Irish in February 2005 to return to

and was immediately drafted into the 1st team squad, where he played on the

in their victorious 2004–05 Zurich Premiership final 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 ...

. Sackey started against Leicester Tigers in the final of the 2006–07 Heineken Cup. Sackey won the League title for a second time during the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership. In February 2010, Sackey, whose contract with Wasps expired at the end of the 2009–10 Guinness Premiership season, announced that he would join

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also known as RCT but usually Toulon; oc, Rugbi Club Tolonenc) is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. A current participant in the first-tier Top 14 competition, they ...

for the

2010–11 Top 14 season The 2010–11 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 13, 2010 and continued through April 2011. The regular season was followed by a t ...

. Sackey scored six tries in 20 matches for RC Toulonnais during the 2010–11 season. However, RC Toulonnais owner

Mourad Boudjellal Mourad Boudjellal (born 5 June 1960) is a French businessman, founder of Soleil Productions comic publishing and sport manager. He was born on 5 June 1960 in Ollioules, near Toulon, on the French Riviera. Presidency of Toulonnais In 2006, Bou ...

pronounced himself "unsatisfied" with Sackey's performance and he was released in May 2011. Sackey returned to England to play for Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership in the 2013/14 season.

International career

In 2001 he was included in the Senior

tour party that played the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. He scored twice in their 83–21 win over USA 'A' in Los Angeles. In 2003, Sackey also played for the

against 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 ...

. He was a member of the England Saxons squad for the 2004 Churchill Cup that played

and the New Zealand Māori. Sackey was named in a 30-man squad for the

2006 end of year rugby tests The 2006 end of year tests, also known as the 2006 Autumn Internationals, refers to several international rugby union matches that took place during November 2006 principally between touring teams from the southern hemisphere – Australia, Argenti ...

. After

Mark Cueto Mark John Cueto (born 26 December 1979 in Workington, Cumbria) is a former English international rugby union player. He played on the wing for Sale Sharks and England. He is currently the third leading try scorer in the Aviva Premiership. O ...

pulled out through injury, Sackey was named in the starting line-up to face the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...

and made his

debut on Sunday 5 November 2006. His first try came a week later in England's 25–18 home defeat to

. However, he was unable to build on his performances in these games after being forced out of the two subsequent games against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the 2007 Six Nations Championship through injury.

2007 World Cup

Sackey was included in the training squad, and later (in August 2007) the final 30-man squad, for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

. In the group stage, he was notable for two tries in a 44–22 victory over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, and two more in the final group match against

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

, which secured England's place in the quarter-finals, where he impressed 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 ...

, managing to prevent a possible try. Sackey played in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Sackey also played in the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

and performed well, scoring 3 tries. Sackey was not in his best form during the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

; he was dropped after England's defeat to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and did not feature in the last three games of the tournament.

Miscellaneous

Ambassador for Ghana Rugby

In July 2008, Sackey travelled to his parents' home country,

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, to gain a better understanding of the development of the sport there. A huge crowd of over 500 schoolchildren greeted him, with several games put on in his honour. These included an exhibition game between Kotababi and Unity primary schools. A number of children from the schools subsequently travelled to the United Kingdom in October 2008 to participate in a tournament arranged by charity Tour Aid.

Personal

Sackey has two brothers, Eddie and Kojo, and two sisters, Beverly and Annabel. In 2006, Paul set up his own car-sourcing business, finding and selling top-of-the-range cars including, in one case, a £330,000

Reliant Robin The Reliant Robin is a small three-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. It was offered in several versions (Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3) over a period of 30 years. It is the second-most popular fibreglass car in history, ...