Mark Bakewell is an Australian

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 ...

forwards coach. Bakewell has travelled extensively in a coaching career spanning over 29 years; he has coached Eastern Suburbs Sydney University and

Melbourne Rebels The Melbourne Rebels were an Australian professional rugby union team based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria that competed in the Super Rugby competition. The Rebels made their debut in SANZAAR, SANZAR's Super Rugby tournament in 2011. T ...

as well as Strength and Conditioning coach for The Wallabies in 1996 in Australia; Was head coach in Brive and Béziers in France; Forwards coach with the Tongan national team;

Suntory Sungoliath Tokyo Sungoliath (formerly known as Suntory Sungoliath) is owned by the Suntory beverage company and is one of the Japanese rugby union teams in the Top League. The team is based in Fuchū, Tokyo, as is their local rival Toshiba Brave Lupus. The t ...

in Japan; as well as

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and

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 ...

in England being the only Southern Hemisphere forwards coach to coach 3 Premiership forward packs

Early life and playing career

Bakewell was born in

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and began playing rugby aged four before moving to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at seven. He played & coached more than 400 gamesfor Eastern Suburbsin

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

playing prop and in the backrow. He is the only living person to have played and coached more than 100 first grade games for Easts In 1996 he became an Australian citizen.

Coaching career

Bakewell began his coaching career at Eastern Suburbs, his old club, as a forwards and strength and conditioning coach in 1995. In 1996 he worked with underGreg Smith as their strength and conditioning coach preparing them for their 1996 undefeated European tour and became head coach of Eastern Suburbs in 1999 and was named New South Wales coach of the year in 2000 after leading Easts to 15 consecutive wins, being the most consecutive wins in their 100 year history . In 2001 he joined

CA Brive Club Athlétique Brive Corrèze Limousin, also referred to as CA Brive, Brive () or CAB, is a French professional rugby union club based in Brive-la-Gaillarde, in the Corrèze, Corrèze department. Brive is a historical member of French rugby un ...

as head coach in France's

Pro D2 The Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was introduced in 2000. It ...

, he led them to promotion 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 ...

but then left following a contract dispute to join AS Béziers. Following two seasons with Béziers Bakewelljoined

in July 2006 as forwards coach under

Steve Meehan Stephen Meehan is an experienced Australian rugby union coach, currently serving as the head coach of . With over 20 years of coaching experience, Meehan has coached in the Top 14 in France, Super Rugby in Australia, and the Top League in Japan. ...

. He has described the three years he spent at Bath as his favourite job, with Bath finishing in the title play off positions in both

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

and

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 ...

In 2008 Bath also won The European Challenge Cup .Post Bath he returned to Australia to be forwards coach of the

in their inaugural 2011 season

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It has previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Super Rugby started as the S ...

. In 2012 he joined as forwards coach and was part of the coaching team when Tonga beat in Scotland.In 2012 he also returned to Eastern Suburbs as head coach until early 2014 but quickly moved on in April to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

joining

. After two seasons in Japan, In February 2016, Bakewell returned to England to replace

Steve Borthwick Stephen William Borthwick (born 12 October 1979) is an English rugby union coach and former player, who is currently the head coach of the England national team. As a player, he played as a lock for Bath and Saracens. At international level, he ...

in England's second division. While at Bristol Bakewell saw the side promoted in 2016 but then relegated from

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

the following year. On 14 February 2018 Bakewell joined

to work as forwards coach under fellow Australian Matt O'Connor. BBC Radio Leicester reported that Bakewell has left his role on 10 December 2019, with the club eventually confirming his departure on 18 December.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakewell, Mark Living people 1963 births Australian rugby union coaches Australian rugby union players Australian expatriate rugby union players in England Leicester Tigers coaches Sportspeople from Christchurch Eastern Suburbs RUFC players Rugby union forwards CA Brive coaches Expatriate rugby union coaches 20th-century Australian sportsmen