Garath Archer (born 15 December 1974 in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

) is a former

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

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 ...

footballer. He played for both

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

and the

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football C ...

.Garath was an apprentice carpenter. In total Archer earned 21 caps for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, including games at the 1999 World Cup. At club level he began his career at

and made 20 appearances for them as they won the 1997-98 Premiership. He missed Newcastle's victory in the 2001

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...

final but started the final as they won the tournament again in 2004. Archer made his debut international appearance for England during March 1996 in the Five Nations that season, in a match against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

. England won the match 18 to nine at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

. He also played in the match against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The following year, 1997, he was capped five time for England, including games against the

All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 198 ...

and Australia. He played eight times for England the following year, and in 1999 was included in the English squad for the 1999 World Cup in

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 ...

. His last Test for England against Scotland at Murrayfield on 2 April during the

2000 Six Nations Championship The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the addition of Italy to the Five Nations. It was the 106th season of the championship overall. The title was won by England. England won ...

. He retired in 2004 at 29, because of back injury, and has since taken up rowing. He has had notable success in indoor rowing, winning his age group and coming third overall in 2008, and beating international rowers to win overall in 2009 at the British Indoor Rowing Championships.

References

External links

Sporting HeroesAnnouncement of leaving BristolArcher's retirement
from ''BBC''
birc results
from Concept2 1974 births Living people Bristol Bears players England international rugby union players English rugby union players Newcastle Falcons players Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Durham, England 1999 Rugby World Cup players {{england-rugbyunion-bio-stub