Hugh Donnithorne Vyvyan (born 8 September 1976 in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

) is a former

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 ...

player who played at

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

for

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He stands at 6'6" and weighs around 18 stone. The former

fullback Jon Callard heavily influenced Vyvyan's early career while at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

, moving him from

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

to number 8. Brother Charlie, was a number 8 for

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

, and was another big influence on his career. He also plays

. Vyvyan is youngest of seven brothers. In 1993 the brothers created rugby history by making up an entire team in the Penryn Invitation Sevens tournament, (played on Easter day each year in Penryn, Cornwall). The Seven Vyvyan brothers (Richard, Jonathan, Charles, Simon, Paul, James and Hugh) went on to win the tournament, defeating the host club 19 – 17 in the final. They returned the following year and defended the title, with Hugh flying back from South Africa to make up the numbers. In all the brothers reached the final five times, winning three times and twice being runners up. He opted to take a year out after

and played in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

for the Villagers club in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. Back in England he played briefly for Penryn before starting a successful theology degree at University of Newcastle, where he caught the eye of the

and eventually made his debut against

Moseley Moseley ( ') is an affluent suburb in south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. It is located within the eponymous Moseley ward of the constituency of Birmingham Hall Green and Moseley (UK Parliament constituency), Hall Green and ...

, when the club were in National Division Two. In 2001 he was an important member of Falcons'

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 ...

winning side at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

(though he was a replacement for the final), a feat he repeated in 2004 but this time starting as captain and scoring a try in the final. In 2002 he toured with the full

side and was an unused bench replacement against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Being deemed not good enough for England, in that same 2002–2003 season he played for England A against Scotland A and Ireland A and, in December 2003, also helped an England XV beat the

New Zealand Barbarians The New Zealand Barbarian Rugby Club Inc., nicknamed the ''Barbarians'', or ''Baa-Baas'', is a rugby union club headquartered in Kingsland, New Zealand, Kingsland, Auckland. The idea came from the concept of the Barbarian F.C. The Barbarians pla ...

. As well as leading both

and now

, he has captained the England A squad on two

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada national rugby union team, Canada, England Saxons, England, the United States national rugby union te ...

tours. The first in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

saw England A take the cup and the second, in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, saw England A losing to the New Zealand Māori in extra time. He won a deserved first England cap against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in the Investec Challenge match in 2004 and scored a try. In 2004, he joined

where he was made captain before even having played a game. In May 2009, Vyvyan signed a new two-year deal with

. In May 2011, during the Aviva Premiership Final, Vyvyan became the most capped player in the Premiership as he came off the bench to make his 238th appearance as Saracens lifted their first Premiership title. On retirement in 2012, Vyvyan received the Special Merit award from his peers at the Rugby Players Association Awards Dinner. Vyvyan was the Commercial Director at

from 2012 to 2016. Vyvyan formed The Leadership Academy in 2016. Vyvyan became a member of the English Premiership Rugby Hall of Fame in 2016.

References

External links

Hugh Vyvyan

England profile

Saracens profile

Guinness Premiership profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vyvyan, Hugh 1976 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Cornwall RFU players Newcastle Falcons players Saracens F.C. players Rugby union locks Alumni of Newcastle University People educated at Downside School People educated at Farleigh School Villager FC players Barbarian F.C. players Rugby union players from Guildford