Shaun Sowerby (born ) is a South African

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 and went to Sasolburg highschool. He is currently a forwards coach for

Biarritz Rugby Biarritz ( , , , ; Basque also ; oc, Biàrritz ) is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located from the border with Spa ...

in the top French rugby competition, 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 ...

. Prior to coaching Biarritz, he had a two-year spell coaching at Montpellier Hérault, having finished his playing career at the

Stade Ernest-Wallon The Stade Ernest-Wallon (; oc, Estadi Ernest-Wallon, italic=no; ) is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sept Deniers district of Toulouse, in southwestern France. Described as a "temple to the oval ball", it is the home ground for the rug ...

for

Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulous ...

. Before that he turned out for Stade Français Paris, who he moved to from the

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...

in South Africa. His usual position was as a number 8. Sowerby also captained the Sharks in South Africa for a year in 2003 which was their 2nd worst finish in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

history. He also played for the South African national team,

Springboks The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabokoboko), is the country's national team governed by the South African Rugby Union. The Springboks play in green and gold jersey ...

, making his debut against

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 Island, Manono an ...

. He has also won the French championship in the 2007–08 season with his club Toulouse. In 2010, he won the Heineken Cup, also with Toulouse. He moved to

FC Grenoble The Football Club de Grenoble Rugby (FCG) is a French rugby union club based in Grenoble and founded in 1892. FCG was champion of France in 1954 and runner-up in 1918 and in 1993 during a controversial final, being deprived of the title of cham ...

for the start of the 2012–13 season. At the start of 2014, Sowerby announced his intention to retire from the game at the end of the 2013–14 season. He was subsequently appointed as the forwards coach of South African provincial side the . On 30 December 2014, Sowerby joining the backroom staff as the new forwards coach for French club Montpellier.

References

External links

ERC profile

2rugby profile

1978 births Living people South African rugby union players South Africa international rugby union players Rugby union number eights Stade Français players Stade Toulousain players People from Vereeniging South African people of British descent Expatriate rugby union players in France South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in France Sharks (Currie Cup) players Sharks (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Gauteng {{SouthAfrica-rugbyunion-bio-stub