Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh

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 ...

coach who was later an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors are a professional rugby union club based in Worcester, England. They most recently played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby union, before being suspended by the Rugby Football Union, RFU in September 2 ...

from 2007 to 2010. He was the coach of the

Welsh national The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of ...

team from 2004 until February 2006 and Leinster Coach from 1997 to 2000. He is the father of 3 children. Irish rugby union international

Rhys Ruddock Rhys Ruddock (born 13 November 1990) is a professional rugby union player. He played for Leinster Rugby, Leinster and Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland. He plays in the backrow, at 6 or 8. In the 2009/2010 season, he captained the Irish ...

, Ciaran Ruddock and Katie Ruddock.

Playing career

Ruddock was born in Blaina, and played in the back row for his local team, Blaina. He also played for

Tredegar Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...

and

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

, making 119 appearances for Swansea and scoring 43 tries. He also played for Wales under-16s and Wales B, but his playing days were ended prematurely by an accident at work in 1985. Working as an electricity linesman, he fell from a pole, suffering serious injuries including three compressed vertebrae and a fractured skull.

Coaching career

Club rugby

He began his career as a coach at Blaina and guided them to a Monmouthshire Premier League title & a Ben Francis Cup victory, he later coached Cross Keys and had a spell in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

with Bective Rangers. As coach of

, he recorded a 21–6 win over the touring

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 ...

ns in 1992 and won Welsh league titles in 1992 and 1994 and the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup (), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most prestigious of the cup competitions ...

in 1995. In 1997, he again moved to

as director of coaching at

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

. Returning to

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

in 2000, he coached

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

and Wales 'A' then coached Newport Gwent Dragons with considerable success.

Wales national team

Ruddock was given control of the Wales team to face

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

in the run up to the

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 ...

, a match which

won 54–8 – their first win in 11 games. In 2004,

Steve Hansen Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief of Vaiala, (born 7 May 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen. He was the head coach of the New Zealand na ...

left his post as coach of the Welsh national side to return to New Zealand, and Ruddock was appointed to the job in March 2004, following the 2004 Six Nations Championship. In his first season,

completed the Grand Slam in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Six Nations, branded as Guinness M6N) is an annual international rugby union competition by the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. It is the oldest sports tournament conte ...

for the first time since 1978. He received an OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List.Worcester profile
On 14 February 2006, Ruddock resigned as coach of the Wales national team when contract negotiations with the WRU broke down.

Post Welsh national coach

Ruddock temporarily left rugby following his departure from the Wales team, but soon returned to the game as an assistant coach of Mumbles RFC winning the Division 3 South West title, also taking charge of a World XV and coaching the forwards of 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 ...

select team on a tour of England & South Africa. During his coaching career Ruddock won the Welsh Coach of the Year in 1992 and 2005.

2007–2010 : Worcester

Ruddock's return to the mainstream was announced on 1 May 2007, when, two days after narrowly avoiding relegation from the

Guinness Premiership 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 u ...

appointed Ruddock as Director of Rugby, replacing John Brain. Ruddock subsequently led Worcester to the Amlin Challenge Cup Final as well as to the Middlesex 7's final at Twickenham. Following the Warriors 12–10 defeat to Leeds Carnegie on 25 April 2010, the Worcester were relegated from the

, and Mike Ruddock subsequently resigned from his post as Director of Rugby on 28 April.

Ireland U-20

It was announced on 4 August 2010 that Ruddock was appointed as head coach of the Ireland Under-20 Rugby Union Team.

References

External links

Wales profile

WRU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddock, Mike 1959 births Living people Blaina RFC players Dragons RFC coaches Leinster Rugby non-playing staff Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Blaina Swansea RFC players Tredegar RFC players Wales national rugby union team coaches Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players Welsh expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Welsh expatriate rugby union players