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

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 plays as a scrum-half 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 ...

in the Premiership.

Early life

Quirke 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 ...

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 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

. 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 Investec 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 pr ...

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 in European Professional Club Rugby c ...

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 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 ...

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

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. 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 a former English professional rugby union player who played as a Scrum-half (rugby union), scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers, and is the List of England national rugby union ...

in the 72nd minute against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

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 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, ...

. In January 2025, following injuries to Alex Mitchell and

Jack van Poortvliet Jack Corstiaan van Poortvliet (born 15 May 2001) is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half for Premiership Rugby club Leicester Tigers and the England national team. Club career Van Poortvliet was born in Col ...

, he was called into the senior training squad for the

2025 Six Nations The 2025 Men's Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Men's Six Nations for sponsorship reasons and branded as M6N) was a rugby union competition that took place from late January to mid-March 2025, featuring the men's national teams of E ...

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, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, and

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

. In his music tastes, Raffi enjoys

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

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

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

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 Wale ...

, with his favourite artist being

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

. Raffi is also a fan of

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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

References

External links

Sale Sharks ProfileUltimate Rugby Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirke, Raffi 2001 births Living people English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Chorlton-cum-Hardy Sale Sharks players Rugby union scrum-halves English people of Irish descent People educated at St. Ambrose College 21st-century English sportsmen