Ian Scott Gibbs (born 23 January 1971) is a Welsh former

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

er who has represented

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 ...

and the Lions in

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

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

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 ...

. Noted feats included his performance in the

1997 British Lions tour to South Africa The 1997 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa was a series of matches played by the British & Irish Lions rugby union team in South Africa. This tour followed the Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand and preceded their 2001 British & Iris ...

(in which he was named "Player of the Series") and the individual try he scored in the dying minutes of the last Five Nations match in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Background

Gibbs was born in

Bridgend Bridgend (; or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the Old Bridge, Bridgend, medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

, Wales.

Rugby union

Gibbs began his rugby career at Pencoed RFC, progressing through the mini and youth levels. His first class career started at Bridgend RFC during the 1990/91 season, followed by a short spell at Neath RFC, before making his

debut in 1991 against England. However he transferred to Swansea RFC in January 1992, scoring a try on his debut in a Cup game against Oakdale. Gibbs also scored further tries that season in the cup against Neath RFC and

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Super Rygbi Cymru. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk. Ever ...

to help Swansea reach the final where they lost to Llanelli RFC at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park (), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily a rugby union stadium, and also has a bowling green. It is situated in Cardiff, Wales, next to the Millennium Stadium. The Arms Park was host to the 1958 British Empire and Common ...

. Despite being only 22, he was selected for the 1993 British Lions tour to New Zealand, where he impressed so much that he was selected for the second and third tests instead of then-England captain Will Carling.

Rugby league

In 1994 Gibbs left union to join rugby league team St. Helens. While playing league, Gibbs was selected to play for

in the 1995 World Cup. He also won the

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

, and the inaugural

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

title with St. Helens in 1996. He played at centre in the 1996 Challenge Cup final victory over

Bradford Bulls 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 ...

. Scott Gibbs played at in St. Helens' 16–25 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the 1995–96 Regal Trophy Final during the 1995–96 at Alfred McAlpine Stadium,

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 13 January 1996.

Return to union

On his return to union in 1996 it was sometimes joked that he was the fastest

prop A prop, formally known as a (theatrical) property, is an object actors use on stage or screen during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

in world rugby, though in fact he was an inside centre. He became known as the world's hardest tackler (summed up by his nickname "Car Crash") and this was exemplified by his performance in his second Lions tour. In 1997 Gibbs was a key member of the victorious British Lions tour of South Africa. The Springboks were at the time the world champions following the 1995 World Cup, and were expected to win the series. However, the Lions produced some noted defensive performances with Gibbs at the centre of the action pulling off some devastating tackles. In one game, Gibbs crashed through the Springboks' key player, 19-stone Os du Randt on one of his trademark bullocking runs. The Lions went on to win the series 2–1 and Gibbs was voted "Player of the Series". In later years Gibbs was sometimes criticised for being too one-dimensional, but he did show agility to claim the winning try in the last-ever Five Nations match in 1999. Wales were playing England at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

with England trying to complete the Grand Slam. England led by 6 points with 3 minutes left to play and appeared to have won the game. However, during injury time (which was added to the 80 minutes in the era prior to the practice of stopping the game clock) Wales had a final attacking line-out from which Gibbs received a

Scott Quinnell Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a Number eight (rugby union), number eight for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Scarlets, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond F.C., ...

pass 20m from the try line. Gibbs memorably broke through England's defensive line, ran around one defender, side-stepped another and crossed for one of the most celebrated tries in Welsh rugby history. In a 2013 article for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', Gibbs said that the play was inspired by a move that his old St Helens teammate Bobbie Goulding had regularly used to great success in the 13-man code, namely packing the midfield with forwards before allowing a back to cut through on a diagonal dummy run. Following

Neil Jenkins Neil Jenkins, (born 8 July 1971) is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly half, fly-half, centre (rugby union), centre, or fullback (rugby union), full back for Pontypridd RFC, Pontypridd, Cardiff RFC, Cardiff, Ce ...

' conversion, Wales won the match 32–31 in what is agreed to be one of the best matches played in the competition, and caused England not only to miss out on the Grand Slam, but handed the last Five Nations Championship to Scotland. In 2001 Gibbs was called up as a replacement to the 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia, though he did not play in any of the Tests.

Post-retirement

Gibbs retired from rugby in 2004 at age 33 and went on to contribute to the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's rugby union coverage. He also coaches the Pirates in

Muscat, Oman Muscat (, ) is the capital and most populous city in Oman. It is the seat of the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the population of the Muscat Governorate in 2022 was 1.72 million. ...

. Gibbs resides in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

, South Africa, with his fiancée.

References

External links

*
Profile at saints.org.uk (RL)
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Scott 1971 births Living people 1991 Rugby World Cup players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century Welsh sportsmen 21st-century Welsh sportsmen British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cool Cymru Dual-code rugby internationals Neath RFC players Ospreys (rugby union) players People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Bridgend Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Bridgend St Helens R.F.C. players Swansea RFC players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Wales rugby union captains Welsh expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players