Warren Spragg (born 1 November 1982 in

Manchester 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 Salford to the west. The t ...

) is an English-born Italian

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 ...

international. He is a versatile back and goalkicker.

Education

Warren Spragg was educated at

Audenshaw School Audenshaw School is an all-boys secondary school in Audenshaw, Greater Manchester, England. Previously, the school was known as Audenshaw Grammar School. It opened to boys in 1932. History On 29 July 1932, Audenshaw Grammar School for Boys was ...

, he then went on to

Kirkham Grammar School Kirkham Grammar School is a selective, co-educational independent school in Kirkham, Lancashire, England. It was founded in 1549. Its roots can be traced back to the chantry school attached to St Michael's Church in the 13th century. The sc ...

. He played for the school

first XV in 1999/00 and 2000/01 when the school side went unbeaten.

Clubs

He started his career at Aldwinians RUFC before moving to

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 ...

where he made his

Guinness Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

debut. He also helped Sale Sharks win the

Melrose Sevens Melrose Sevens is an annual rugby sevens event held by Melrose Rugby Club, at The Greenyards in Melrose, Scotland. It is the oldest rugby sevens competition in the world, dating back to 1883 when the tournament was suggested by former Melrose ...

and Caldy 7s tournaments in 2003. He then moved to

Wakefield RFC Wakefield RFC was an English rugby union club, founded in 1901 and folded in 2004 as a result of poor finances, with a trading loss of £105,000 for the season and unsecured creditors' loans of approximately £640,000. The club's final season w ...

where he won the 2003/04 Eva Orbell Trophy for best newcomer. On Wakefield's demise he moved to

Orrell R.U.F.C. Orrell Rugby Union Football Club is a rugby union club from Orrell in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club was founded in 1927, holding a place in the top-tier of rugby union from 1986 to 1997. History Orrell Rugb ...

He then played for

Petrarca Padova Rugby Petrarca Rugby is a rugby union club from Padua, Italy, currently competing in the top tier of the Italian rugby union, the Top10. Founded in 1947, the team is the rugby union branch of the Unione Sportiva Petrarca, an omnisport club that inclu ...

in the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

. After moving to Fylde RFC to play he is now the head coach of the team playing in RFU National 2 North

Representative honours

While at

, Warren was a member of the England Schools 18 group team that toured

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 ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in 2001. He scored a try in the England victory over the Australia Schoolboys.Rugby.Com.Au , England Schoolboys Defeat Australians
/ref> He then represented the England under 21s in the 2002-03 U21 Six Nations Championship. In the summer of 2004, he was a member of the

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

squad that toured

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 ...

. In November 2006, he made his debut for

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 ...

for whom he qualifies through an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

grandmother. He has also represented Italy in the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

in 2007. He also played for Lancashire Senior Team when they won the BIll Beaumont County Championship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spragg, Warren 1982 births Living people British emigrants to Italy English people of Italian descent English rugby union players Italian people of English descent Italian rugby union players Italy international rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players People educated at Kirkham Grammar School Petrarca Rugby players Rugby Calvisano players Rugby union players from Manchester Sale Sharks players Wakefield RFC players Rugby union wings