Gareth Llewellyn
| Full name | Gareth Owen Llewellyn | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | February 27, 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | ||
| Height | 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in) | ||
| Weight | 114 kg (17 st 13 lb) | ||
| School | Bryntirion Comprehensive School | ||
| Notable relative(s) | Glyn Llewellyn (brother) | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Lock, Flanker | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1988-1996 1996-2000 2000-2003 2003-2004 2004 2004-2005 2005-2008 2008-2009 |
Llanharan Neath Harlequins Neath Ospreys Swansea Narbonne Bristol Tonmawr |
116 100 66 6 2 22 52 |
(24) (20) (10) (0) (5) (0) (15) |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1989–2004 | Wales | 92 | (24) |
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| 2008-2009 2009- |
Tonmawr (Defence) Thornbury | ||
Gareth Owen Llewellyn (born 27 February 1969 in the former St. David's Hospital, Cardiff), is a Welsh international rugby union player who gained a record 92 caps for Wales as a lock. His record for Wales caps was surpassed by Gareth Thomas in May 2007. His brother, Glyn Llewellyn, also played international rugby union for Wales.
Rugby career
Llewellyn started his playing career at Llanharan RFC and then moved on to play first class rugby at Neath, Harlequins, Ospreys and Narbonne, and signed for Bristol Shoguns at the beginning of the 2005–06 season.
After excelling in the line-out for Neath in their match against the touring New Zealand All Blacks on 25 October 1989, he made his debut for Wales ten days later against the same opposition and went on to win a total of 92 caps, breaking the record of 87 held by Neil Jenkins in the test against Argentina on 12 June 2004.
He captained Wales on 7 occasions and appeared in three Rugby World Cups – 1995, 1999 and 2003. Indeed, such was his longevity that he achieved the notable feat of playing international rugby in three different decades and under eight different coaches. Following Wales' Grand Slam in the 2004–05 season, he announced his retirement from international rugby.
From the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Llewellyn combined playing with a coaching role at Welsh First Division club Tonmawr.[1] Since the 2009–10 season he is head coach at South West One West side Thornbury RFC working alongside Bristol's Darren Crompton and Rob Higgitt formerly of Bristol Rugby, the Scarlets and Worcester RFC.
References
- ↑ Llewellyn takes on Tonmawr task BBC Sport, 4 August 2008