Hugh Roach (born 11 September 1992) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

professional player who plays hooker for the

San Diego Legion The San Diego Legion are an American professional rugby union team based in San Diego, California, that competes in Major League Rugby (MLR). The team plays its home games at Torero Stadium. The Legion began play in the league's inaugural 2018 ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR) is a professional rugby union competition in the United States. The league comprises 11 teams. While operating outside of the governance and oversight of the national governing body, the league is officially sanctioned ...

(MLR) in the United States. He also plays for the

USA Perpignan Union Sportive Arlequins Perpignanais, also referred to as USA Perpignan or Perpignan, is a French professional rugby union club founded in 1933 and based in Perpignan, in the Pyrénées-Orientales department. They compete in the Top 14, France' ...

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

(France).

Family and early life

Roach was born in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. He played his junior rugby at Hunters Hill Rugby Club, and attended

Newington College Newington College is a multi-campus Independent school, independent Uniting Church in Australia, Uniting Church Single-sex education, single-sex and Mixed-sex education, co-educational Pre-school education, early learning, Primary school, primar ...

. His father, Graham Roach, was also a first grade rugby player who played at hooker for Western Suburbs in the

Shute Shield The Shute Shield, currently known as the Charter Hall Shute Shield, is a semi-professional rugby union competition in Sydney, Australia. It is the premier club competition in New South Wales. The Shute Shield is awarded to the winning team fro ...

competition. Roach was an Australia Schoolboys representative in 2009 and 2010, and is currently the equal most capped schools rugby player in Australia. He was also a member of the Australia Under 20 side for both the

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

where he made 3 appearances (Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand) and

2012 IRB Junior World Championship The 2012 IRB Junior World Championship was the fifth IRB Junior World Championship, an annual international rugby union competition for Under-20 national teams. This competition replaced the now defunct Under 19 and Under 21 world championship ...

s where he was capped a further 4 times ( Scotland, Argentina, France twice).

Rugby career

Roach initially made his name playing for Eastwood in the

competition and was named Shute Shield Rookie of the Year after the 2013 tournament. This good form saw him picked by the Western Force for their match against the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

in June 2013. He made the Waratahs extended playing squad for the

2014 Super Rugby season The 2014 Super Rugby season is the fourth season of the 15-team format for the Super Rugby competition involving teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. For sponsorship reasons, this competition is known as Asteron Life Super Rugby ...

as third-choice hooker behind

Tatafu Polota-Nau Sione 'Utukiveisini Tatafu Polota-Nau (born 26 July 1985) is an Australian rugby union player who recently played for Parramatta Two Blues in Australia's Shute Shield. He joined the club in December 2017. Family and early life Polota-Nau was b ...

and Tolu Latu. An injury to Latu in the latter stages of the season saw Roach earn his first Super Rugby cap as a second-half substitute in the Waratahs 41-13 victory over the on 18 May 2014. The 2015 season brought further success on the field with Roach earning a further 6 Super Rugby caps for the Waratahs .In the domestic club competition, he added another Shute Shield grand final win (his second in three GF appearances) in a performance that saw him voted the Man of the Match by the TV broadcast team. The 2016 season saw Roach earn a further 13 appearances for the Waratahs. With a total of 21 super appearances under his belt the Tahs prioritized the re-signing of Roach in June 2016 committing him for a further 2 seasons at Moore Park. In 2017 he earned a further 9 caps for the Waratahs taking his career total Super rugby caps to 30 at the conclusion of the 2017 season. In season 2018 Roach continued his good form making a further 9 appearances in the first 10 rounds of the Super Rugby competition including stand out performances against the from Cape Town, the in Durban and 70 minutes of high energy play against the competition leaders the in Christchurch. 2019 saw a move to

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

where Roach added a further 8 super caps to his record taking his total to 49. He took up a playing contract with Tasman Mako in New Zealand's

Mitre 10 Cup The mitre (Commonwealth English) or miter (American English; see spelling differences; both pronounced ; ) is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in traditional Christianity. Mi ...

later that year where he played 10 games then signed a contract to play for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

in the UK Premiership but that was terminated because of Roach having a foot injury. Roach then came to the in a rush to find a replacement hooker and made his debut off the bench against the .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Hugh 1992 births People educated at Newington College Australian rugby union players New South Wales Waratahs players Greater Sydney Rams players Rugby union hookers Rugby union players from Sydney Living people Tasman rugby union players Melbourne Rebels players Australian expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand Crusaders (rugby union) players Australian expatriate rugby union players in the United States Austin Gilgronis players USA Perpignan players Chicago Hounds (rugby union) players Eastwood Rugby Club players San Diego Legion players Australian expatriate rugby union players in France 21st-century Australian sportsmen