Robert Howley (born 13 October 1970) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player. As a player, he won 59 caps for

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 ...

, 22 of them as captain. He was part of the Wales coaching staff from 2008 to 2019. He is Currently Attack Coach for Welsh Rugby Team for the Six Nations He is currently a coaching consultant for the Toronto Arrows in Major League Rugby (MLR).

Playing career

Club

Howley played for Bridgend, Cardiff and

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

. He gained the distinction of Welsh Player of the Year in 1996 and 1997. He helped Wasps win back-to-back Premiership titles in 2003 and 2004. He also helped Wasps win the Heineken Cup in 2004; his late try in the final won them the game against Toulouse. A wrist injury saw Howley announce his retirement from the game in 2004.

International

Howley represented Wales at Schools, Students, U21, A and B levels. He made his senior Wales debut in February 1996. He was selected for the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa, prompting speculation of a match-up with the Springboks' Joost van der Westhuizen, but Howley suffered a tour-ending shoulder injury in a match against Natal prior to the start of the test series. Howley made the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia and played in the first two tests before succumbing to injury. He retired from international rugby when he joined Wasps.

Coaching career

Following his retirement from playing, Howley coached Cardiff RFC. In 2008, he was named as the attack coach as part of Warren Gatland's

coaching staff. Over the next 12 years, the national side won four Six Nations titles, including three Grand Slams, and reached the

Rugby World Cup The Men's Rugby World Cup is a rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams, the winners of which are recognised as the World championship, world champions of the sport. The tournament is administer ...

semi-finals in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

and the quarter-finals in 2015. He was attack coach during 2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa under head coach Ian McGeechan, and retained the role under Warren Gatland in the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, helping the Lions secure their first series win since 1997.

Wales caretaker coach

2012–2013

In April 2012, Howley temporarily covered the day-to-day running of the coaching team, after Warren Gatland suffered two broken heels while on holiday in

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 ...

. Warren Gatland was unable to lead Wales on their 2012 tour to Australia because of his injury, and Rob Howley took charge as caretaker coach during the tour. Rob Howley continued his caretaker role in the 2012 Autumn Internationals as Gatland was selected as head coach of the 2013 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia. However, Howley would only coach Wales in the opening 2 matches;

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and

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, and that Gatland would return to coach the side against

and

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 ...

in week 3 and 4. Due to Gatland's role as head coach of the Lions, he was unable to coach Wales in the 2013 Six Nations, therefore Howley continued his role through the 2013 tournament. As Wales coach, Howley faced much criticism. Wales beat the Barbarians 30–21 in his opening match as caretaker, but after that, Wales suffered eight consecutive defeats, six of which were under Howley. This included a 3–0 series defeat against Australia during their 2012 tour, a series whitewash in the 2012 Autumn internationals and a loss in the opening round of the 2013 Six Nations against

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. The last five defeats were all at home, setting a new Wales record for consecutive home defeats. The streak was broken in round 2 of the Six Nations with a 16–6 win over

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. Howley led Wales to a Championship win in the 2013 Six Nations after beating England by a record winning margin, 30–3 at the Millennium Stadium. This was Wales' fourth Championship win since it became the Six Nations in 2000, and the first time Wales won back-to-back championships since 1979.

2016–2017

On 7 September 2016, Howley was once again given the head coaching duties for the Welsh national side after Gatland retained his head coaching role of the British & Irish Lions for their 2017 tour to New Zealand. Howley took charge of Wales effective immediately, coaching Wales in all 2016 Autumn internationals, which saw Wales win 3 from 4. He also coached the side during the 2017 Six Nations Championship, and assisted the British & Irish Lions during their 2017 Summer tour.

2019 suspension

On 17 September 2019 Rob Howley was sent home from Wales'

training camp in Japan for a breach of sports betting rules. He was later banned for 18 months with nine suspended after being found guilty of placing 363 bets on rugby union, covering 1,163 matches in total. Howley linked his betting to his sister's depression, alcoholism and early death.

Results

References

External links

Wasps profileScrum.com player statistics

Planet-rugby stats

Sporting heroes 1234
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howley, Rob 1970 births Bridgend RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Barbarian F.C. players Cardiff RFC players Living people People educated at Ysgol Brynteg Rugby union players from Bridgend Rugby union scrum-halves Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby union team coaches Wales rugby union captains Wasps RFC players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players 1999 Rugby World Cup players