Craig Quinnell (born 9 July 1975, Swansea) is a former Welsh

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player. Quinnell played 54 games for the

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

club between November 1999 and May 2002 and established himself as one of the backbones of the pack. Though often in the firing line from opposition forwards, he never took a step backwards and was a firm favourite with the Cardiff faithful. He began his senior career with Llanelli and after that joined

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

for two years. Quinnell left Cardiff in May 2002 to join English club

Saracens upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

and, for a short while,

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

but was among the earliest recruits to the newly established

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff ...

, playing for three seasons until his injury enforced retirement. Quinnell won his first international cap as a flank forward against Fiji in 1995,Glover, Tim (1995)
Wales unveil their latest Quinnell
, ''

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'', 11 November 1995. Retrieved 12 March 2016 becoming Wales' first tactical substitution, at the age of 20 and now has 32 international appearances to his name (the majority in the second row). He was a member of the World Cup squad in 1999 and has toured with

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, also in 1999 and Japan two years later. As a player Quinnell had a fearsome reputation with the ball in his hands, but also had a reputation of being somewhat undisciplined, frequently picking up yellow and red cards. Problems with injury, including a serious spinal injury in 2001, meant that Quinnell never achieved as much as his brother Scott. On 13 April 2006, Quinnell announced his retirement from professional rugby. This came following a neck injury sustained during a game for the

against

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

. Doctors told him that he risked being in a wheelchair if he played rugby again. Craig Quinnell is the son of former Welsh international

Derek Quinnell Derek Leslie Quinnell (born 22 May 1949 in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire) is a former Welsh rugby union player. He played as a lock-forward and as a number eight. He was capped for Wales youth 1967/8 season. Club career Educated at Coleshill Seco ...

and the younger brother of

Scott Quinnell Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former dual-code rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond and the British & Irish Lions in rug ...

. The youngest Quinnell brother,

Gavin Gavin is a male given name originating from Scotland. It is a variation on the medieval name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk" (or falcon). Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an e ...

, played professionally for the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

References

External links

Wales profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quinnell, Craig 1975 births Living people Cardiff Rugby players Llanelli RFC players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Swansea Saracens F.C. players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union players Worcester Warriors players Richmond F.C. players