Rob Howley

Rob Howley

Date of birth	13 October 1970
Place of birth	Bridgend, Wales
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	83 kg (13 st 1 lb)
School	Brynteg Comprehensive School
University	University College of Swansea
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Scrum-half
Professional / senior clubs
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1990-1993 1993 1994-1996 1996-2002 2002-2004	Bridgend Cardiff Bridgend Cardiff Wasps	40 6 46 120 59	(72) (0) (42) (210) (45)
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1996-2002 2001	Wales British and Irish Lions	59 2	(50) (0)
Coaching career
Years	Club / team
2004 2005-2008 2008- 2009, 2013	Barbarians Assistant Cardiff Blues Assistant Wales Assistant British and Irish Lions Assistant

Robert Howley (born 13 October 1970 in Bridgend) is a former Welsh rugby union player. He gained 59 caps for Wales, 22 of them as captain.

Howley made his Wales debut in February 1996. He was selected for the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa, prompting speculation of a match-up with the Springboks' Joost van der Westhuizen, but Howley was injured.

Howley did make the 2001 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia and played in the first two tests before succumbing to injury.

Howley moved from Cardiff to Wasps and retired from international rugby. A wrist injury saw Howley announce his retirement from the game in 2004.

Following his retirement from playing Rob Howley coached Cardiff RFC/Blues, and is now the attack coach for the Wales national team.^[1]

He was attack coach during 2009 British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa under head coach Ian McGeechan, and retained the role under Warren Gatland in the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Wales Caretaker Coach role

During April 2012, he temporarily covered the day-to-day running of the coaching team, after Warren Gatland suffered two broken heels while on holiday in New Zealand.^[2] It was announced on 19 April 2012 that Warren Gatland would be unable to lead Wales on the 2012 tour to Australia because of his injury, and that Rob Howley would take charge as caretaker coach during the tour.^[3] It was later announced that Rob Howley would continue his caretaker role in the 2012 Autumn Internationals as Gatland was selected as head coach of the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.^[4] Howerver, Howley would only coach Wales in the opening 2 matches; Argentina and Samoa, and that Gatland would return to coach the side against New Zealand and Australia in week 3 and 4. Due to Gatland's role as head coach of the Lions, he was unable to coach Wales in the 2013 Six Nations, therefore Howely would continue his role through the 2013 tournament.^[5]

While coaching the Welsh side from June 2012 to March 2013, Rob Howley faced much criticism. His opening match as caretaker coach against the Barbarians was won by Wales 30-21. After that win Wales suffered 8 consecutive defeats, 6 of which were under the management of Howley. This included a 3-0 series defeat against Australia during their 2012 tour to Australia, a series white-wash in the 2012 Autumn Internationals and a loss in the opening round of the 2013 Six Nations against Ireland. The last 5 defeats was a record run of 5 home defeats. The streak was broken in round 2 of the Six Nations after beating France 6-16. Rob Howley led Wales to a Championship win in the 2013 Six Nations after beating England by a record winning margin, 30-3 at the Millennium Stadium. This was Wales fourth Championship win since it became the Six Nations in 2000, and the first time Wales has won back to back championship wins since their 1978/1979 championship wins.

Results

Date	Venue	Home	Score	Away	Victor	Notes
2 June 2012	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	30–21	Barbarians	Wales
9 June 2012	Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane	Australia	27–19	Wales	Australia	2012 Welsh tour to Australia
16 June 2012	Etihad Stadium, Melbourne	Australia	25–23	Wales	Australia
23 June 2012	Sydney Football Stadium, Sydney	Australia	20–19	Wales	Australia
10 November 2012	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	12–26	Argentina	Argentina	2012 Autumn internationals
16 November 2012	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	19–26	Samoa	Samoa
2 February 2013	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	22–30	Ireland	Ireland	2013 Six Nations
9 February 2013	Stade de France, Saint-Denis	France	6–16	Wales	Wales
23 February 2013	Stadio Olimpico, Rome	Italy	9–26	Wales	Wales
9 March 2013	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	Scotland	18–28	Wales	Wales
16 March 2013	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	Wales	30–3	England	Wales

References

1. "Howley Eager for Wales Challenge". BBC Sport. 15 January 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2008.
2. "BBC Sport - Wales coach Warren Gatland suffers double heel injury". Bbc.co.uk. 2012-04-11. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
3. "Warren Gatland devastated to be ruled out of Wales' Australia tour". WalesOnline. 2012-04-27. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
4. Ian Robertson (2012-09-04). "Warren Gatland named coach for Australia series". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-03-09.
5. "BBC Sport - Lions 2012: Rob Howley appointed Wales caretaker coach". Bbc.co.uk. 2012-09-04. Retrieved 2013-03-09.

External links

• Wasps profile
• Scrum.com player statistics
• Planet-rugby stats
• Sporting heroes 1 2 3 4