Paul Henry Sackey (born 8 November 1979) is a retired English

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 ...

footballer who played on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

, most recently for Harlequins in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

. He is an

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 ...

international. He has also played for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emerg ...

and the England Sevens team. He is of

Ghanaian The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...

heritage and attended the Roman Catholic John Fisher School in Purley.

Early career

Born on 8 November 1979 in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Sackey started playing rugby at 17, when he was a pupil at the Roman Catholic John Fisher School in Purley, and started out as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

or fullback. His pace earned him an immediate call up to the school's 1st XV and he was a member of their Sevens team that won the Rosslyn Park Nationals Sevens tournament two years running. Sackey was spotted by a

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

scout, and went on to play for Wasps U19s and U21s. Andy Gomarsall took Sackey on a sevens trip to Lisbon and, realising his potential, arranged his move to

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. While at Bedford he was called up to the England under-21 squad that played in the under-21 World Cup in New Zealand, before signing professional forms with

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 ...

and joining them in August 2000. That year he also played for the England Sevens team in

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 ...

Club career

He topped the London Irish try scoring list in the 2000–01 Zurich Premiership, and in four years scored 43 tries in 121 Premiership appearances. He played for London Irish when they beat

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

38–7 in the 2002

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 ...

final. He left London Irish in February 2005 to return to

and was immediately drafted into the 1st team squad, where he played on the

in their victorious 2004–05 Zurich Premiership final against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...

. Sackey started against Leicester Tigers in the final of the

2006–07 Heineken Cup The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was the 12th edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. The pool draw took place on 21 June at Twickenham. The pool stages started on 20 October and concluded in January, going for six rounds. Foll ...

. Sackey won the League title for a second time during the 2007–08 Guinness Premiership. In February 2010, Sackey, whose contract with Wasps expired at the end of the 2009–10 Guinness Premiership season, announced that he would join

RC Toulonnais Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its h ...

for the

2010–11 Top 14 season The 2010–11 Top 14 competition was a French domestic rugby union club competition operated by the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR). Home-and-away play began on August 13, 2010 and continued through April 2011. The regular season was followed by a ...

. Sackey scored six tries in 20 matches for RC Toulonnais during the 2010–11 season. However, RC Toulonnais owner

Mourad Boudjellal Mourad Boudjellal (born 5 June 1960) is a French businessman, founder of Soleil Productions comic publishing and sport manager. He was born in Ollioules, near Toulon, on the French Riviera. Presidency of Toulonnais In 2006, Boudjellal brought ...

pronounced himself "unsatisfied" with Sackey's performance and he was released in May 2011. Sackey returned to England to play for Harlequins in the

in the 2013/14 season.

International career

In 2001 he was included in the Senior

tour party that played the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

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 ...

. He scored twice in their 83–21 win over USA 'A' in Los Angeles. In 2003, Sackey also played for the

against the

Ireland Wolfhounds The Ireland Wolfhounds (also known as Ireland A and Ireland B) are the second national rugby union team of Ireland, behind the Ireland national team. History The Wolfounds previously competed in the Churchill Cup together with the England Sax ...

. He was a member of the England Saxons squad for the 2004 Churchill Cup that played

and the New Zealand Māori. Sackey was named in a 30-man squad for the 2006 end of year rugby tests. After

Mark Cueto Mark John Cueto (born 26 December 1979 in Workington, Cumbria) is a former English international rugby union player. He played on the wing for Sale Sharks and England. He is currently the third leading try scorer in the Aviva Premiership. O ...

pulled out through injury, Sackey was named in the starting line-up to face the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...

and made his

debut on Sunday 5 November 2006. His first try came a week later in England's 25–18 home defeat to

. However, he was unable to build on his performances in these games after being forced out of the two subsequent games against

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 ...

and the

2007 Six Nations Championship The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen ma ...

through injury.

2007 World Cup

Sackey was included in the training squad, and later (in August 2007) the final 30-man squad, for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

. In the group stage, he was notable for two tries in a 44–22 victory over

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

, and two more in the final group match against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

, which secured England's place in the quarter-finals, where he impressed 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 ...

, managing to prevent a possible try. Sackey played in the 2007 Rugby World Cup Final. Sackey also played in the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

and performed well, scoring 3 tries. Sackey was not in his best form during the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

; he was dropped after England's defeat to

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and did not feature in the last three games of the tournament.

Miscellaneous

Ambassador for Ghana Rugby

In July 2008, Sackey travelled to his parents' home country,

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

, to gain a better understanding of the development of the sport there. A huge crowd of over 500 schoolchildren greeted him, with several games put on in his honour. These included an exhibition game between Kotababi and Unity primary schools. A number of children from the schools subsequently travelled to the United Kingdom in October 2008 to participate in a tournament arranged by charity Tour Aid.

Personal

Sackey has two brothers, Eddie and Kojo, and two sisters, Beverly and Annabel. In 2006, Paul set up his own car-sourcing business, finding and selling top-of-the-range cars including, in one case, a £330,000

Reliant Robin The Reliant Robin is a small three-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. It was offered in several versions (Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3) over a period of 30 years. It is the second-most popular fibreglass car in histor ...

. In March 2023, Sackey was a part of SU Glovers' ultimately unsuccessful bid to purchase Yeovil Town Football Club. He is now the Commercial Director at York City Football Club.