Paul Sackey

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Paul Henry Sackey (born 8 November 1979 in London) is an English rugby union footballer. He currently plays for the London Wasps in the English Guinness Premiership, and previously played for the London Irish. He has also played for England A, the England Sevens team and was a part of the 2005-06 England Elite Player Squad. As of 14 February 2009 he has 21 full England caps. He is of Ghanaian heritage. He went to The John Fisher School in Purley.

Career

Sackey started playing rugby at 17, when he went to The John Fisher School in Purley, and started out as a centre 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 scout 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. 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 for London Irish and joining them in August 2000. That year he also played for the England Sevens team in Argentina.

He topped the London Irish try scoring list in 2000-01 and in four years scored 43 tries in 121 Premiership appearances. In 2002 he was included in the England tour party that played the United States and Canada. He scored twice in their 83-21 win over the United States in Los Angeles. He played for London Irish when they beat Northampton Saints, 38-7, in the 2002 Powergen Cup final.

In 2003 Sackey also played for England A against Ireland A. He was a member of England’s 2004 Churchill Cup squad that played Canada and the New Zealand Māori. He left London Irish in February 2005 to return to Wasps and was immediately drafted into the 1st team squad, where he played on the wing in their victorious Zurich Premiership final against Leicester Tigers.

He finished the 2005-06 Guinness Premiership tied as the league's third top try scorer, and the Wasps second highest try scorer for the English season. Five rounds into the 2006-07 Guinness Premiership he leads the try scoring. He was then named in a 30 man squad for England for the November Test series. After Mark Cueto pulled out through injury he was named in the starting lineup to face the All Blacks and made his debut on Sunday, November 5 2006. His first try came a week later in England's 25-18 home defeat to Argentina. However he was unable to build on his performances in these games after being forced out of the two subsequent games against South Africa and the 2007 Six Nations Championship through injury. Sackey also played in the 2008 Six Nations Championship and performed well, scoring 3 tries.

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.

In the group stage, he was notable for two tries in a 44-22 victory over Samoa, and two more in the final group match against Tonga, which secured England's place in the quarter-finals, where he impressed against Australia, managing to prevent a possible try.

Ambassador for Ghana Rugby

Sackey, in July 2008, travelled to his parents' home country, Ghana, 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. This included an exhibition game between Kotababi and Unity Primary schools; of which some children will be travelling to the UK in October 2008 to participate in a tournament arranged by charity Tour Aid.

Personal

Sackey has two brothers, called Eddy and Kojo. He also has two sisters called 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 Rolls Royce Phantom.^[1] Sackey bears an uncanny resemblance to English musician and Bloc Party frontman Kele Okereke, leading many to believe the two are in fact the same person.

2009 Six Nations'''

Sackey was not in his best form and was dropped after England's defeat to Wales and did not feature in the last three games of the tournament.

References

External links

• England profile
• Paul Sackey on guinnesspremiership.com
• Wasps profile
• Paul Sackey photo by sportingheroes.net