Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972) is a Welsh former dual-code

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 ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales,

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llanelli) is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pembe ...

, Llanelli Scarlets,

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

in rugby union. He won 52 caps for Wales (seven as captain) and three for the Lions, and scored 11 international tries for Wales and one for the Lions. In 1994 he changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

codes from

when he transferred from

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, and played two seasons, winning a league championship and two caps for

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

Biography

Scott was born in

Morriston Morriston (; cy, Treforys ) is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. It is the largest community in Swansea county. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town (e.g. the local f ...

, Swansea, Glamorgan,

. He is the son of former Welsh international Derek Quinnell. His two brothers Craig and

Gavin Gavin is a male given name originating from Scotland. It is a variation on the medieval name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk" (or falcon). Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an e ...

played professional rugby union. Gavin lost the sight in one eye after an incident in a 2010 match. The brothers are also nephews of Welsh international

Barry John Barry John (born 6 January 1945) is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC befor ...

, and Quinnell's godfather was

Mervyn Davies Thomas Mervyn Davies (9 December 1946 – 15 March 2012), often known as "Merv the Swerve", was a Welsh rugby union player who won 38 caps for Wales as a No. 8. Early life Davies was born in Swansea, where he attended Penlan County School ...

Early career

Quinnell first joined the

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's llan (placename element), Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of ...

juniors aged 8 and he made his début as an 18-year-old back in 1990 against

Pen-y-groes Penygroes or Pen-y-groes may refer to any of several places in Wales: *Penygroes, Gwynedd Penygroes () is a village in Gwynedd, Wales. The village is located to the south of Caernarfon, and north of Porthmadog, by the A487 road. Penygroes' popul ...

. He went on to represent Llanelli on 146 occasions, scoring 69 tries. Quinnell first played for Wales as a blindside flanker in a 26–24 defeat against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

in 1990. He was part of the 1994 Five Nations-winning Welsh team and was man of the match in Wales' 24–15 victory over

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

that year with a try and a breakaway to set up another try.

Rugby league

He switched to

in 1994, joining

. He stayed with Wigan for two years, and during this time he won the league. Quinnell played loose forward in Wigan's 25–16 victory over St. Helens in the 1996 Regal Trophy final. He also represented Wales in the

1995 Rugby League World Cup The 1995 Rugby League World Cup was held during October in the United Kingdom. It was the eleventh staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was marketed as the Halifax Centenary World Cup, reflecting the tournament's sponsorship and the fact ...

. He said that the toughest game of rugby he ever played was the quarter-final against

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

. Wales went out to England 25–10 in the semi-finals.

Return to union

Quinnell returned to rugby union with

in 1996. He was selected for the 1997 Lions tour of South Africa but a double hernia operation forced him to leave the tour and he was replaced by Tony Diprose. He came back to his beloved

Stradey Park Stradey Park (Welsh: ''Parc y Strade'') was a rugby union stadium located near the centre of the town of Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, Wales. It was the home of the Scarlets region and Llanelli RFC rugby teams. The stadium was a combination of s ...

in 1998. During the 1998–99 season he did no conditioning work at all as he had rheumatoid arthritis in his left knee. For seven years he played through the pain barrier with the condition that seemed likely to end his career. He was part of a Welsh team that won eight straight games before the 1999 World Cup and then reached the World Cup quarter-finals where they went out 24–9 to the eventual winners Australia. He captained Wales for the first time in a 23–13 defeat by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national ru ...

. Quinnell played his last game for Wales as a replacement in a 32–21 win over Canada in 2002 after winning 52 caps. He was again selected for the 2001 Lions tour to Australia where he played in all three tests, and scored a try in the first test in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. After the Welsh domestic game went regional in 2003, he appeared 59 times for the Scarlets, scoring 32 tries. He was part of the Llanelli Scarlets team that won the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places par ...

title in 2004. Quinnell announced his retirement from rugby union at the end of the 2004–05 season in order to concentrate on his role as coach of the Llanelli RFC

Welsh Premier Division The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compet ...

team. A hand injury suffered in March 2005 forced him to end his career a few weeks prematurely. He played his final game in a

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

with fellow retiree

Rob Howley Robert Howley (born 13 October 1970) is a Welsh former rugby union player and coach. As a player, he won 59 caps for Wales, 22 of them as captain. He was part of the Wales coaching team for many years. He is currently a coaching consultant for th ...

at the

. Quinnell's Britain & Ireland selection lost 57–67 to Howley's Rest of the World side.

After retirement

Quinnell currently regularly appears as a commentator and pundit on a number of

Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It h ...

televised rugby matches. He is also a People's Postcode Lottery ambassador and appears on the adverts. He is a co-presenter and coach (with

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. He ...

) of Sky's '' School of Hard Knocks'' TV series. He has had a recurring guest role as himself in the

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 19 ...

TV comedy series '' Stella''. In 2017 he co-wrote (with psychologist Paul Boross) the book ''Leader On The Pitch'', with a foreword written by Sir Clive Woodward. In 2020, he participated in ('Language Road Trip'), a show for S4C where he and several other celebrities learned

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

, broadcast in April 2020. An extra episode, ('Language Road Trip: Christmas') was broadcast at the end of 2020, interviewing each of the celebrities about whether they were still making use of their Welsh and the opportunities they had had to use Welsh during lockdown.

Personal life

Quinnell is married to Nicola, and the couple have three children. Having lived all of his life in Llanelli, in early 2009 in light of his increased media commitments, the family moved to

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Warwick District in Warwickshire, England, south-west of Coventry, north of Warwick and north-west of London. It lies on Finham Brook, a tributary of the River Sowe, which joins the ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...

, although they have since moved back to

South Wales South Wales ( cy, De Cymru) is a loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, south Wales extends westwards ...

to a

smallholding A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...

near Usk. Quinnell is

dyslexic Dyslexia, also known until the 1960s as word blindness, is a disorder characterized by reading below the expected level for one's age. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, r ...

, but was not diagnosed until his early 30s, when his lack of ability to read and write was correctly diagnosed. Having undertaken a series of therapies to resolve the condition, as of 2010, Quinnell is a popular speaker on the matter. He has represented the Welsh Dyslexia Project, and also completed an autobiographyQuinnell, Scott – The Hardest Test, published by Accent Press, 2008, as part of the Accent Press Quick Reads series. In August 2007 Quinnell was treated for serious injuries after slipping whilst entering a shower and falling through a glass shower door at his then home near Llanelli. He was taken to West Wales General Hospital in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

with a severed right

triceps The triceps, or triceps brachii (Latin for "three-headed muscle of the arm"), is a large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It consists of 3 parts: the medial, lateral, and long head. It is the muscle principally responsib ...

, and glass embedded in his right arm, hand and knee. In 2017, Quinnell published a book on business leadership with Paul Boross.Quinnell, Scott – Leader on the Pitch, published by CGW Publishing, 2017,

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com''Sunday Morning with Scott Quinnell & Co''
(BBC Radio Wales) {{DEFAULTSORT:Quinnell, Scott 1972 births Living people British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Dual-code rugby internationals Llanelli RFC players Sportspeople with dyslexia Richmond F.C. players Rugby league players from Swansea Rugby union number eights Rugby union players from Morriston Scarlets players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Wales rugby union captains Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players Wigan Warriors players