The No 9 was first called up by England for the 2021 autumn Internationals
Who is Raffi Quirke: Ten things you should know about Sale Sharks scrum-half
Raffi Quirke is a young scrum-half who was called up to the England squad in the autumn of 2021 following impressive form for his club Sale Sharks.
Ten things you should know about Raffi Quirke
1. Raffi Quirke was born on 18 August 2001 in Manchester, England. He stands at 5ft 10in (1.78m) and weighs 13st 5lb (85kg).
2. He has played his senior rugby exclusively for Sale Sharks, a club he joined in 2018.
3. Quirke began playing rugby when he was five and did so alongside being a triathlete. He became the north-west triathlon champion at the age of 13 but gave the sport up when he had to choose between it and rugby.
4. He has asked for pointers on his game from Sale team-mate and South Africa World Cup winner Faf de Klerk.
Eddie on Mark Atkinson and Raffi Quirke's attributes ?#WearTheRose pic.twitter.com/dSFAOMz0fI
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) October 18, 2021
5. Quirke was speechless when he was added to a WhatsApp group after being named in his first England training squad in 2021.
He told MailOnline: “I was looking through the pictures and there were guys like Ben Youngs, Owen Farrell and Anthony Watson. You’re sat there thinking, ‘What the hell is going on?’
“Five minutes later, a message came through on the group saying, ‘Congratulations on being selected’.”
6. Sale Sharks head coach Alex Sanderson has compared Quirke to Faf de Klerk. He said: “Raffi is like a younger, more northern version of Faf de Klerk…
“You have to be able to manage the game and kick your way out of scenarios and he can do that as well.”
7. Quirke has represented England at U16, U18 and U20 level.
8. During lockdown Quirke became his family’s barber, telling RugbyPass: “I bought the cheapest clippers online and cut my little brother and my dad’s hair. Instead of my dad going to some fancy place in town, I sort him out now.”
9. His favourite music artist is Bob Marley.
10. Quirke supports Manchester United and also enjoys participating in other sports including cross-country, swimming and cycling.
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