Damian Hopley

Damian Hopley

Personal information
Full name	Damian Paul Hopley
Date of birth	(1970-04-12) 12 April 1970
Place of birth	London, England, UK
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	14 st 9 lbs (93 kg)
School	St Benedict's School, Ealing Harrow School
University	University of St Andrews, University of Cambridge
Youth clubs
Years Club 1990-1992 Wasps Academy
Senior clubs*
Years Club Apps (points) 1992-1998 University of St Andrews RFC London Wasps 43 (95)
Representative teams
1995 England A England 3
Sevens National teams
1993 England 1993 Sevens World Cup
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

Damian Hopley (born 12 April 1970) is a former rugby union player for London Wasps and England. His position of choice was on the wing or in the centres.

Background

Born in London, Hopley attended St Benedict's School in Ealing where he represented first his school in rugby and Harrow School. He was nicknamed the "vicar of rugby", having studied theology at the University of St Andrews and Cambridge University and holds a Master of Theology degree.

Career

Hopley continued playing rugby for his university side. He spent his entire playing career with London Wasps before retiring at only 26 due to injuries just months after the sport turned professional.

He was a member of the successful England sevens team that won the Melrose Cup in the inaugural IRB 1993 Rugby World Cup Sevens at Murrayfield. He won 3 caps for England and retired in 1998 after injuries forced him to retire at the age of 27.

Other work

Hopley is the founder and chief executive of the not-for-profit registered trade union Rugby Players' Association (RPA), launched in August 1998, as the representative body and collective voice of professional rugby union players in England.

External links

• Profile & Statistics on ESPN Scrum
• Wasps profile