Raffi Quirke (born 18 August 2001) is an English professional

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 plays as a scrum-half for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

in the Premiership.

Early life

Raffi Quirke was born on 18 August 2001 in Chorlton. He started playing rugby when he was 5, inspired by his father Saul who coached him through his early years. He was part of a Broughton Park RFC side at U9s level, in which the side went unbeaten while scoring 267 tries. Quirke was also a triathlete, following in the footsteps of both of his parents, becoming North-West champion at

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the t ...

when 12 or 13. However, it became increasingly difficult to consider pursuing both rugby and triathlons to a professional level, so he eventually decided to focus on rugby. He was educated at Saint Ambrose College. Quirke of Irish ancestry through a maternal grandparent.

Club career

In 2019 Quirke spent a period on loan to Sale FC in National League One. On 20 February 2021 Quirke made his professional club debut for Sale Sharks in a Premiership game against Harlequins and in April of that year he scored his first try for the club in a

European Rugby Champions 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 ...

game away to

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

International career

Quirke represented England at both U16 and U18 level, scoring two tries against Wales for the under-16 squad. In 2018 he toured

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 ...

with the under-18 squad and scored a try in the defeat against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Quirke was subsequently selected for the under-20 squad although did not participate in any of their fixtures. In September 2021 coach Eddie Jones included Quirke in the senior England squad for a training camp. On 13 November 2021 Quirke made his Test debut for England, coming on as a replacement for

Ben Youngs Benjamin Ryder Youngs (born 5 September 1989) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Leicester Tigers and . He made his club debut at 17 in 2007 and in 2010 made his debut for England; in 2022 he became En ...

in the 72nd minute 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 ...

in the Autumn Nations Series, a game which England won 32-15. In doing so, he became England's youngest scrum-half since

Nick Duncombe Nick Duncombe (21 January 1982 – 14 February 2003) was an English rugby union footballer who played for Harlequins and England. Earmarked as a promising youngster since his time in the England youth teams, Duncombe was the England senior t ...

in 2002. Quirke then came off the bench in England's final test of the series against

, scoring the winning try in England's 27-26 victory. Quirke was named in the initial training squad for the

2022 Six Nations Championship The 2022 Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd Six Nations Championship, the annual rugby union competition contested by the national teams of England national rugby union team, England ...

International tries

Personal life

As a keen outdoors sports fan, Quirke also enjoys middle-distance running, cross country running,

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

, and

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

. In his music tastes, Raffi enjoys hip-hop,

Rhythm and Blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

, with his favourite artist being

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

. Raffi is also a fan of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. He returns to Saint Ambrose to help coach the younger players.

References

External links

Sale Sharks ProfileUltimate Rugby Profile
2001 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Chorlton-cum-Hardy category:Sale Sharks players Rugby union scrum-halves English people of Irish descent People educated at St. Ambrose College {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub