Rowland David Phillips (born 28 July 1965) is a Welsh former

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer.

Background

Phillips was born in

St Davids St Davids or St David's (, , "David's house”) is a cathedral city in Pembrokeshire, Wales. It lies on the River Alun and is part of the community of St Davids and the Cathedral Close. It is the resting place of Saint David, Wales's ...

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 ...

Playing career

He played as a back row forward for

, where he won ten caps between 1987 and 1990. He also played rugby union for

Neath RFC Neath Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Indigo Premiership for Season 2024/25. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a whi ...

before moving to

, playing for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Oldham RLFC Oldham Rugby League Football Club, is a professional rugby league football club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. The club plays home games at Boundary Park and competes in Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. O ...

and

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

. Rowland Phillips appeared as a substitute (replacing Neil Harmon on 79-minutes) in

's 12–2 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the 1990–91 Regal Trophy Final during the 1990–91 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on Saturday, 12 January 1991. He also played for the

and

Great Britain national rugby league team The Great Britain national rugby league team represents Great Britain in rugby league. Administered by the Rugby Football League (RFL), the team is nicknamed The Lions. For most of the 20th century, the Great Britain team toured overseas, p ...

s. Rowland Phillips made his début for

on Saturday 13 October 1990, and he played his last match for Warrington on Sunday 21 August 1994.

Coaching career

In 2003 he took over as coach of

from Lyn Jones. Due to his success at the club he is regarded as a local hero, leading

to four Premiership titles in successive years and three cup final wins. In the Summer of 2009 he joined

Ebbw Vale RFC Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club play in the Super Rygbi Cymru and act as a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. History Evidence of rugb ...

as head coach. After an unsuccessful season which saw Ebbw Vale relegated, he joined new Italian rugby team

Aironi Aironi Rugby (, "herons") was an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the Pro12 and the Heineken Cup, representing the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna. It lost its status as a regional side at the end of the 2011–12 ...

, originally as a defence coach, a position he previously filled with the Ospreys and

. He became Head Coach on 7 November 2010 after Franco Bernini was sacked after not winning any of their games up to that point. In July 2012 Phillips was appointed head coach of Italian club Viadana. In June 2014 Phillips was appointed Director of Rugby for Welsh club Neath RFC; he left later when appointed manager of

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Profile at aironirugby.eu
1965 births Living people 20th-century Welsh sportsmen 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Aironi coaches Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team players London Welsh RFC players Neath RFC players Officers in Welsh police forces Oldham R.L.F.C. players People educated at Ysgol Dewi Sant People from St Davids Rugby league players from Pembrokeshire Rugby league second-rows Rugby union flankers Rugby union players from Pembrokeshire Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players Workington Town players {{wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub