Ryan Lamb (born 18 May 1986 in

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east of t ...

) is a former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the Comparison of rugby league and rugby union, two codes of ru ...

player who plays at

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Club career

A former pupil of St Peter's High School, he made his professional debut in the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception i ...

quarter final against

Brive Brive-la-Gaillarde (; Limousin dialect of oc, Briva la Galharda) is a Communes of France, commune of France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the largest city of the Corrèze Departments of France, department. It has around ...

in 2006 which Gloucester Rugby won comfortably. Lamb started in the subsequent final, as Gloucester defeated his future club, London Irish. He became first choice at

Fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

for Gloucester Rugby as they topped the table during the 2006–07 Guinness Premiership and 2007–08 Guinness Premiership seasons. However, they were thwarted in the play-offs in both seasons by the

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 ho ...

. Gloucester's continued failures in key games saw Dean Ryan lose faith in Lamb. He was dropped after Gloucester's home

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

defeat to

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff ...

in January 2009 amid concern that he failed to exercise sufficient control over games. Lamb was released by Gloucester at the end of the 2008–09 season. Lamb signed for

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While ...

. During the Guinness Premiership match between London Irish and Sale Sharks on 28 March 2010, Lamb successfully converted a penalty to take his points tally for that competition past the 500-mark. On 24 March 2011, he signed a contract that took him to

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

for the 2011/12 season. On 20 February 2013, Lamb would leave Northampton Saints to join

for the 2013/14 season. However, on 10 February 2014, Lamb left

after seven months to join with

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

with immediate effect, where he rejoined Director of Rugby Dean Ryan at the

Sixways Stadium Sixways Stadium is a stadium in Worcester, England. It is currently used for rugby union and association football matches and is the home stadium of Premier 15s side University of Worcester Warriors and football side Worcester Raiders. Prio ...

. He scored the winning conversion as Worcester were promoted back to the Aviva Premiership for the 2015–2016 season, beating Bristol 59–58 on aggregate. On 19 May 2017, Lamb left Worcester for France, joining the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

club

La Rochelle La Rochelle (, , ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''La Rochéle''; oc, La Rochèla ) is a city on the west coast of France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime department. Wit ...

on a two-year deal ahead of the 2017–18 season. On 20 September 2019, Lamb returns to the UK to join Welsh region

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

as cover during 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 match ...

Following his stint with Wales, Lamb announces his retirement from professional rugby with immediate effect.

International career

In 2006, Lamb represented England at the IRB U21 World Championship. He debuted for the

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

on his 21st birthday against the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

at the

2007 Churchill Cup The 2007 Churchill Cup was held from May 18 to June 2, 2007. It was the fifth year of the Churchill Cup. Six rugby union teams took part: Canada, England Saxons, Ireland A, New Zealand Māori, Scotland A, and the USA. Format The teams we ...

. Lamb was also part of the Saxons side that defeated Ireland A on 1 February 2008 and competed at the

2008 Churchill Cup The 2008 Churchill Cup took place between 7 June and 21 June 2008 in what was the sixth year of the Churchill Cup. Six rugby union teams took part: , England Saxons, Ireland A, Scotland A, the , and an Argentinian XV. Participation The entry of ...

, which the Saxons won.

Personal life

Lamb was arrested in the early hours of 1 March 2009 outside Subtone, a nightclub in Cheltenham. Lamb was charged with assault, and was later fined for the incident. On 9 May 2010, Lamb was hit in the face with a bottle after an altercation involving fellow London Irish players and supporters of

Chelsea Football Club Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. ...

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history T ...

. He was taken to hospital but was not seriously injured.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, Lamb returns to his hometown of Gloucester where he became the new Backs and Attack coach for Hartpury University who compete in the

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, whe ...

. More recently, Lamb has been sharing his vast experience as backs coach at National League One Giants, Plymouth Albion RFC. Alongside former Premiership giant, Damien Welch he has been responsible for developing a new squad during COVID times at the Brickfields based club.

References

External links

London Irish profileGloucester Rugby ProfileEngland profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamb, Ryan 1986 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union players from Gloucester People educated at St Peter's High School, Gloucester Gloucester Rugby players London Irish players Northampton Saints players Leicester Tigers players Worcester Warriors players Stade Rochelais players Scarlets players Expatriate rugby union players in France Rugby union fly-halves English people of Irish descent Birmingham & Solihull R.F.C. players