Darren Edwards (born 25 March 1974 in

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

, Wales) is a former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. A scrum-half, he was a member of the 2003

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team () represents the Welsh Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international agai ...

and he played for Wales, Wales A, Sevens, Under-21, Students and Under-18 levels. Edwards also played for the Barbarians against , and .

Professional career

Edwards began his senior playing career with Saracens in 1996 and joined

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

in 2000, playing 21 times for the club. He also made more than 100 appearances for London Irish and played for Bedford and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

before ending at

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University Leeds Beckett University (LBU), formerly known as Leeds Metropolitan University (LM ...

. He played in the 2002 Powergen Cup Final at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

, as London Irish defeated the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

. Edwards retired from playing at the end of the 2007–2008 season to take up Coaching at Harlequins.

Coaching career

In June 2009 he joined Newport Gwent Dragons as attack coach, replacing

Lyn Jones Richard Lyn Jones (born 5 June 1964) is a Wales international rugby union former player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at t ...

. During 2010 Edwards was head coach of the Wales Under 20 team. In April 2011 Edwards became Newport Gwent Dragons head coach after initially taking the role in a caretaker capacity following the departure of Paul Turner. Edwards left the Dragons in February 2014. In June 2014 Edwards joined Bath as first team coach. Edwards departed Bath at the end of the 2018–19 Premiership season, taking up a position with Wales Sevens soon after. Edwards was named as interim head coach of Wales Women in 2020, after the departure of previous head coach

Rowland Phillips Rowland Phillips may refer to: * Rowland Phillips (judge) (1904-1976), Chief Justice of Jamaica, 1963–68 * Rowland Phillips (rugby) (born 1965), Welsh rugby union and rugby league player * Rowland Phillips (tennis) Rowland Phillips (born 23 J ...

. His involvement with the team continued in late 2021, assuming the role of skills coach. In 2022, Edwards joined the

Ospreys The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It is ...

as defence coach until the end of the season. Ahead of the

2022–23 United Rugby Championship The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship was the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022 and ended on 27 May 2023. For sponsorship reasons it was known in South Africa as Vod ...

season, this position was made permanent. Edwards had departed the club by the beginning of the 2023–24 season.

References

External links

Statbunker profile

London Irish profile

1974 births Living people Dragons RFC coaches Leeds Tykes players London Irish players Newport RFC players Rugby union players from Maesteg Saracens F.C. players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players {{wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub