Graham Rowntree

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Graham Rowntree
John Cleveland College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Prop
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1990–2007 Leicester Tigers 398 (82)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1995–2006 England 54 (0)
1997, 2005 British & Irish Lions 3 (5)
Coaching career
Years Team
2007–2008 Leicester Tigers assistant
2007–2015 England forwards
2013, 2017 British & Irish Lions forwards
2018 Harlequins forwards
2018–2019 Georgia
2019–2022 Munster forwards
2022– Munster head coach
Correct as of 29 May 2023

Graham Christopher Rowntree (born 18 April 1971)

John Cleveland College, Hinckley, Leicestershire
, which has also produced other rugby union players.

Career

In 1988 he joined

Heineken Cup finals.

In 1993 he made his England A, Barbarians and Midlands debuts, and on 18 March 1995 he gained his first full England cap against Scotland in the 1995 Five Nations Championship as a temporary replacement for Jason Leonard. He subsequently played in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. He also made the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa, playing 6 games and the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

After the 1999 World Cup Graham was not capped for almost 2 years until a series of fine performances for his club forced him back into international contention. He was prominent throughout the pre-

2002 Six Nations games. He started in England's 15–13 win over New Zealand in Wellington in 2003 and put in a particularly memorable performance against the All Blacks when England's pack was reduced to just 6 men. Despite playing in the 2003 pre-World Cup trial match in France, Rowntree was omitted from Clive Woodward's squad, which won the tournament. Clive Woodward
admitted that leaving Rowntree behind was one of the hardest decisions he had to make in his time as England head coach.

Rowntree returned to the England side in the

2004 Six Nations and was the first-choice loosehead prop for the 2004 Autumn Internationals
.

Coaching

Rowntree retired from rugby in 2007 after 17 years playing the game, and he joined the Tigers coaching team where he made a rapid rise up the coaching ranks, becoming the forwards/scrum coach for the English national team ahead of the 2008 Six Nations Championship. He toured South Africa with the British & Irish Lions in 2009, acting as scrum coach, before being named forwards coach for the winning test series against Australia in 2013 and scrum coach for the drawn series with New Zealand in 2017.

Following the resignation of head coach

2015–16 English Premiership season, it was announced that Harlequins had appointed Rowntree as their new forwards coach.[4] Rowntree joined the Georgian national team in 2018, but left after the 2019 Rugby World Cup to join Irish province Munster as their new forwards coach.[5][6]

Rowntree signed a two-year contract extension with Munster in January 2022,[7] and, in April 2022, the province confirmed that Rowntree would replace Johann van Graan as head coach from the 2022–23 season.[8] Munster won silverware in Rowntree's first season as head coach, ending a twelve year trophy drought when they defeated South African side the Stormers 19–14 away from home in the final of the 2022–23 United Rugby Championship on 27 May 2023.[9] Munster confirmed a two-year contract extension with Rowntree in September 2023.[10]

Notes

  1. ^ Graham Rowntree player profile ESPN Scrum.com
  2. ^ "European glory seals Leicester treble". BBC. 19 May 2001. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  3. ^ "Tigers retain European Cup". BBC. 25 May 2002. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Graham Rowntree, Mike Catt and Andy Farrell leave England roles". BBC Sport. 14 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
  5. ^ "Graham Rowntree To Join Munster Rugby". Munster Rugby. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  6. ^ "Contract News & Squad Update". Munster Rugby. 29 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  7. ^ "Could Graham Rowntree be the man to replace Johann van Graan?". Irish Examiner. 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Graham Rowntree Confirmed As Next Munster Head Coach". Munster Rugby. 12 April 2022. Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  9. ^ "Magical Munster see off Stormers to win URC title and end trophy drought". Irish Examiner. 27 May 2023. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  10. ^ "Munster Head Coach Graham Rowntree Signs New Contract". Munster Rugby. 25 September 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.

External links