Rowan Varty

Last updated

Rowan Varty
Rowan Varty 20170506.jpg
Birth nameRowan Varty
Date of birth (1986-03-20) 20 March 1986 (age 37)
Place of birth London, England
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight81 kg (12 st 11 lb) [1]
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing or full-back
Current team DeA Tigers
Senior career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
DeA Tigers RFC ()
Correct as of 31 May 2013
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
2008–2017
2013
Hong Kong
Barbarians
38
1
(90)
(0)

Rowan Varty (born 20 March 1986) is a British-born Hong Kong rugby union player. He plays for the Hong Kong Cricket Club in the HKRFU Premiership. Rowan has also captained the Hong Kong national rugby union team, Hong Kong Sevens team and been selected to play for Barbarians. His sister Lindsay represents Hong Kong in rugby sevens women's team. [2]

Contents

Youth and education

Born in London, England to a British father and a Chinese-Portuguese mother, Varty grew up in Hong Kong, where he attended King George V School [3] before attending the University of Nottingham to read Law and attending the University of Hong Kong for postgraduate studies. [4]

In December 2013, after having completed a 2-year apprenticeship with Hong Kong law firm, Tanner De Witt, Varty decided to take a sabbatical from his legal career. He was one of 40 players inducted into the Hong Kong Sports Institute, with the prospect of representing Hong Kong in the Olympics, and now works full-time as a teacher at King George V School. [5]

Play

Varty nominally plays back at 15-a-side rugby, and takes wing or full-back positions for his club, DeA Tigers, as well as at Asian level. [6] Varty led the King George V School (KGV) in their 21-5 victory over Island School in the 2004 Bill Williams Schoolboy Rugby Sevens. [7] Varty made his international début for the Hong Kong at the age of 18 when he joined a match against Singapore as a substitute. [3] Having spent considerable effort to acquire a Hong Kong passport, [4] he eventually acquired one in 2013. [2]

Varty has represented Hong Kong in three Rugby Sevens world cup tournaments – Hong Kong (2005) and Dubai (2009) and Russia (2013). [8]

Varty was selected in April 2013 for the Barbarians squad to play England and the British and Irish Lions, becoming the first Hong Kong rugby player to play at this level. He appeared in the match against England, where he came off the bench and replaced Timoci Nagusa to win his first Barbarian cap. [9]

As of October 2020, Rowan Varty is Hong Kong national team's highest all-time scorer with 120 points as well as their all-time leader in top try with 24 of them.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waisale Serevi</span> Fijian rugby union footballer and coach (born 1968)

Waisale Tikoisolomoni Serevi is a Fijian former rugby union football player and coach, and is a member of the World Rugby Hall of Fame. Serevi is renowned for his achievements in rugby sevens, while also enjoying a long career in fifteen-a-side rugby at both club and national team levels. Nicknamed "The Wizard" by commentators, he is widely considered to be the greatest rugby sevens player in the history of the game. A biography of Serevi titled Waisale Serevi: King of Sevens by Nick Darvenzi was published in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King George V School, Hong Kong</span> International school in Hong Kong

King George V School is a coeducational international secondary independent school of the English Schools Foundation (ESF), located in Ho Man Tin, Hong Kong. The school has more than 1,900 students and is one of the oldest schools in Hong Kong. Students take IGCSEs/GCSEs followed by the International Baccalaureate Diploma or the British BTEC programme. There is a Learning Enhancement Centre (LEC) for students with learning difficulties. The campus has an area of 10.2 acres (4.1 ha). The school is one of three ESF secondary schools in Kowloon and the New Territories, the others being Sha Tin College and Renaissance College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby World Cup Sevens</span> International rugby sevens tournament

Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong Cricket Sixes</span> Annual international cricket tournament

The Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a Six-a-side international cricket tournament held at the Kowloon Cricket Club comprising between eight and twelve teams. Organised by Cricket Hong Kong, it is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council. The tournament is designed for television viewing, with rules and a venue that encourage aggressive batting and high scoring. Because every player is required to bowl one over, the format suits all-rounders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong national rugby union team</span> Korean rugby mens team

The Hong Kong national rugby union team, nicknamed the Dragons, has made the qualifying rounds of the Rugby World Cup. Rugby union in Hong Kong is administered by the Hong Kong Rugby Union since 1952, and successfully competes annually in the Asia Rugby Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore Sevens</span> Annual rugby sevens tournament

The Singapore Sevens is an annual rugby sevens tournament contested by national teams. It was first hosted as part of the IRB World Sevens Series in 2002. The Standard Chartered Bank was the original title sponsor. It was effectively replaced in the calendar by the Australian Sevens for the 2006-07 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hannah Wilson</span> Hong Kong swimmer (born 1989)

Hannah Jane Arnett Wilson is a Hong Kong retired amateur swimmer. She is a three-time Olympic swimmer for Hong Kong, having swum at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and 2012 Summer Olympics in London. She has won two career Universiade gold medals. As of July 11, 2009, Wilson currently holds 10 Hong Kong records and two Universiade records in swimming.

The 1999–2000 World Sevens Series was the first season of the global circuit for men's national rugby sevens teams, organised by the International Rugby Board. The series ran from December 1999 to May 2000 and incorporated ten tournaments spread over five continents. New Zealand was the series champion, winning five of the tournament events. Fiji finished as runner-up, eight points behind despite winning the remaining five tournaments. The leading try-scorer for the inaugural season was Fiji's Vilimoni Delasau, who notched 83 tries over the series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Tait</span> Scotland international rugby union player

David Tait was a professional rugby union player for Sale Sharks in the Guinness Premiership.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Hong Kong</span> Activities relating to a sport in Hong Kong

Rugby union in Hong Kong is long established, partly as a result of its being a British colony. Rugby union is one of the most popular sports in Hong Kong. In contrast to the People's Republic of China, it has had a continuous existence dating back over a hundred years, and is most notable for the Hong Kong Sevens tournament, the best known of the rugby sevens tournaments. The top domestic club competition is the HKRFU Premiership.

Munir Ahmed Dar also known as Moner Ahmed is a Pakistani cricketer who has represented the Hong Kong national team internationally. He notably scored 36 runs off 27 balls as Hong Kong beat Bangladesh during the 2014 ICC World Twenty20.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hong Kong national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Hong Kong national rugby sevens team is a regular participant in the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The team's greatest achievements include winning the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and winning the Asian Sevens Series in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">USRC Tigers RFC</span> Hong Kong rugby union club

USRC Tigers (三軍會猛虎欖球會) is a rugby union club based in King's Park, Hong Kong. It arose from the merger between Kai Tak Tigers and DeA Flamingo Rugby Football Club in 1990 to become "DeA Tigers". In 2014, DeA Tigers associated with the United Services Recreation Club (USRC) to become "USRC Tigers".

Ed Rolston is a Hong Kong former international rugby union player. He is the youngest ever Hong Kong international, having represented Hong Kong at all age groups from under 14s through to the senior team when he was capped aged 17 years 4 months and 25 days. He was a member of the Hong Kong rugby academy and captained the Hong Kong Under 18s and Under 20s. His previous clubs are Loughborough Students RUFC where he represented the senior 1st team in 30 starts scoring 25 tries.

Raef Morrison is a Hong Kong rugby union player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cado Lee</span> Rugby player

Cado Lee Ka ToMH is a Hong Kong rugby union and rugby sevens player. He plays for USRC Tigers RFC, the Hong Kong national sevens team and the Hong Kong national rugby union team.

The 2003 Hong Kong Sevens was an international rugby sevens tournament that took place at the Hong Kong Stadium between 28 and 30 March 2003. It was the 28th edition of the Hong Kong Sevens and was the fifth tournament of the 2002–03 IRB Sevens World Series. Twenty-four teams competed in the tournament and were separated into six groups of four with the top eight teams qualifying through to the cup tournament.

Melvin Tong Man-chung is a Hong Kong former professional tennis player.

Lindsay Varty is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She competed at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup, it was Hong Kong's first appearance in a World Cup.

Chong Ka-yan is a Hong Kong rugby union player. She featured at the 2017 Women's Rugby World Cup for Hong Kong as they made their debut.

References

  1. "Hong Kong Rugby profile". Archived from the original on 29 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 Jacqueline, Rachel (20 April 2014). "Passport eligibility rule raises a conundrum for players". South China Morning Post
  3. 1 2 "2 Minutes With... Rowan Varty". South China Morning Post, 30 May 2004
  4. 1 2 Andrea Lo (11 April 2013). "Rowan Varty".
  5. "Varty among 40 players to join elite sevens training programme". South China Morning Post 12 December 2013
  6. Sallay, Alvin (1 June 2013). "Rowan Varty's Barbarians inclusion makes sense for big business". South China Morning Post
  7. Powell, Jonathan (2 March 2004). "Rowan roars in KGV triumph". South China Morning Post
  8. Sallay, Alvin (27 June 2013). "Rowan Varty out to grab the silverware for Hong Kong". South China Morning Post
  9. Sallay, Alvin (23 April 2013). "Rowan Varty to add pace to Barbarians". South China Morning Post