Graham Rowntree
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Graham Christopher Rowntree (born 18 April 1971) is an English
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 ...
former player and former head coach of Irish club
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
. He played loosehead prop for
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
and
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. He was capped 54 times for England, despite having to compete for his position with one of the world's most capped forwards, Jason Leonard. Rowntree was born in
Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...
. He was educated at John Cleveland College,
Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England, administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough, and is about halfway between L ...
,
Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...
, which has also produced other rugby union players.


Career

In 1988 he joined
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its home ...
from
Nuneaton Nuneaton ( ) is a market town in Warwickshire, England, close to the county border with Leicestershire to the north-east.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : Nuneaton's population at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 censu ...
and made his first-team debut against Oxford University in 1990. He was given the nickname Fruit Pastille Man early in his career, owing to sharing a surname with the confectionery brand that manufactures the well known sweet. For much of that time he was in harness with the famous ‘ABC club’ alongside Richard Cockerill and Darren Garforth. At Leicester Rowntree enjoyed great domestic success, and started both the
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
and
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
Heineken Cup finals. In 1993 he made his England A,
Barbarians A barbarian is a person or tribe of people that is perceived to be primitive, savage and warlike. Many cultures have referred to other cultures as barbarians, sometimes out of misunderstanding and sometimes out of prejudice. A "barbarian" may ...
and Midlands debuts, and on 18 March 1995 he gained his first full England cap against
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
in the 1995 Five Nations Championship as a temporary replacement for Jason Leonard. He subsequently played in the
1995 Rugby World Cup The 1995 Rugby World Cup (), was the third Rugby World Cup. It was hosted and won by South Africa, and was the first Rugby World Cup in which every match was held in one country. The World Cup was the first major sporting event to take place in ...
. He also made the
1997 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 British & Iris ...
, playing 6 games and the
1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...
. After the 1999 World Cup Graham was not capped for almost 2 years until a series of fine performances for his club forced him back into international contention. He was prominent throughout the pre-
2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup and was won by England national rugby union team, England. Originally planned to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispu ...
years. He was selected for the England squad to tour Canada and the US in
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
, participated in all that season's Autumn internationals — being named as man of the match in England's 21–15 Cook Cup victory over Australia — and started in each of the 2002 Six Nations games. He started in England's 15–13 win over New Zealand in Wellington in
2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...
and put in a particularly memorable performance against the
All Blacks The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks, is the representative men's national team in the sport of rugby union for the nation of New Zealand, which is considered the country's national sport. Famed for th ...
when England's pack was reduced to just 6 men. Despite playing in the 2003 pre-World Cup trial match in France, Rowntree was omitted from
Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...
's squad, which won the tournament.
Clive Woodward Sir Clive Ronald Woodward (born 6 January 1956) is an English former rugby union player and coach (sport), coach. He was coach of the team from 1997 to 2004, managing them to victory in the 2003 Rugby World Cup. He also coached the 2005 Britis ...
admitted that leaving Rowntree behind was one of the hardest decisions he had to make in his time as England head coach. Rowntree returned to the England side in the 2004 Six Nations and was the first-choice loosehead prop for the 2004 Autumn Internationals.


Coaching

Rowntree retired from rugby in 2007 after 17 years playing the game, and he joined the Tigers coaching team where he made a rapid rise up the coaching ranks, becoming the forwards/scrum coach for the English national team ahead of the 2008 Six Nations Championship. He toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in
2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
, acting as scrum coach, before being named forwards coach for the winning test series against Australia in
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
and scrum coach for the drawn series with New Zealand in
2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
. Following the resignation of head coach Stuart Lancaster on 11 November 2015, newly appointed head coach Eddie Jones sacked the whole coaching team, with Rowntree leaving his post with England after eight years in December 2015. At the end of the 2015–16 English Premiership season, it was announced that Harlequins had appointed Rowntree as their new forwards coach. Rowntree joined the Georgian national team in 2018, but left after the
2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...
to join Irish province
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
as their new forwards coach. Rowntree signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2022, and, in April 2022, the province confirmed that Rowntree would replace Johann van Graan as head coach from the 2022–23 season. Munster won silverware in Rowntree's first season as head coach, ending a twelve year trophy drought when they defeated South African side the
Stormers The Stormers (known for sponsorship reasons as the DHL Stormers) and the academic team DHL Stormers is a South African professional rugby union team based in Cape Town in the Western Cape that competes in the United Rugby Championship, a tra ...
19–14 away from home in the
final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship on 27 May 2023. Munster confirmed a two-year contract extension with Rowntree in September 2023. On 29 October 2024, Munster announced the departure of Rowntree by mutual agreement after four losses in six games in the 2024-25 United Rugby Championship.


Notes


External links


England profile

Rowntree @ Planet Rugby Player stats from Planet Rugby

Sporting heroes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowntree, Graham 1971 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England England international rugby union players English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Leicester Tigers players Rugby union players from Stockton-on-Tees Rugby union props Munster Rugby non-playing staff 1995 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players