Stephen Lorenzo Varney (born 16 May 2001) is a Welsh-born Italian professional

rugby union player 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 ...

who primarily plays scrum-half for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

of the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

. He has also represented

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

at international level, having made his test debut 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 ...

during 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- ...

. Varney has previously played for clubs such as

Hartpury Hartpury is a civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It has an area of about , about 270 homes and a population of about 700 people, increasing to 1,642 at the 2011 census. The village is about north of Gloucester. Geographically the parish ...

in the past.

Professional career

Coming from

Rhoshill, Pembrokeshire Rhoshill (also known as Rhos-hill) is a hamlet on the A478 road, in the community and parish of Cilgerran, in Pembrokeshire, South-west Wales. The hamlet is situated at the crossroads between the A478 road and the unclassified road from Cilgerr ...

, and having played for

Crymych RFC Crymych Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi Crymych) is a rugby union team from the village of Crymych in Pembrokeshire, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets. History Crymych RFC is ...

, in 2020 he was named for Italy U20 squad, for which he qualifies through his Italian mother, Valeria. In January 2020, Varney was named in the Italy Under 20 squad for the

2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2020 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was the 13th series of the Six Nations Under 20s Championship, the annual northern hemisphere rugby union championship. Ireland were the defending champions, having won the 2019 Championship with a Gra ...

. He made his international debut for

, from the bench, in the

against

that year. On 22 August 2023, he was named in the Italy's 33-man squad for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Varney, Stephen 2001 births Living people Gloucester Rugby players Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Italian people of Welsh descent Welsh people of Italian descent Rugby union players from Pembrokeshire Rugby union scrum-halves