Lynn Howells
Birth name | Lynn Howells | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 29 May 1950 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Maerdy, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Rugby union coach | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Lynn Howells (born 29 May 1950) is a Welsh rugby union coach, who until March 2018 was the head coach of the Romanian national team, having been the manager of the national side for 10 months prior to his appointment. Howells, born in Maerdy in Rhondda Valleys, played flanker at his nearest club Tylorstown RFC, before playing for Penygraig RFC. There he was noticed by Pontypridd RFC, and represented one of the top clubs in Wales in 1971.
Coaching career
1990's
Having played for the club in 1971, Howells joined
In April 1999, it was announced that Lynn Howells would leave his post at Pontypridd to take on the head coaching role at Cardiff.[3] The start of the season saw the club lose 13 first choice players due to the 1999 Rugby World Cup, where Howells was also taking part in as assistant coach for Wales, the host country. Henry and Howells lead Wales to top of the Pool with victories over Argentina and Japan, but were defeated by Samoa. Wales were knocked out by the eventual Champions Australia in the quarter-finals, losing 24–9. Howells played a massive part in the preparations for the World Cup, creating a strong forward pack that beat South Africa for the first ever time, 29–19.
Howells returned to Cardiff post World Cup and despite the sides poor start and failing to win in the first rounds of the
2000s
With Henry coaching the British & Irish Lions on their tour of Australia, Howells became caretaker coach of the national side for their 2001 test series against Japan. Wales won the test series 2–0, with a 64–10 win in the first test and a 53–30 win in the second. After the tour, Howells left the national set up, becoming head coach of Pontypridd. With Howells at the reign between 2001 and 2003, Ponty made it all the way to the final of the 2001–02 European Challenge Cup in just his first season in charge. They were beaten by Sale Sharks 25–22 in the final, but later went onto secure the Welsh Cup title ahead of Llanelli.
In 2003, the
Between 2004 and 2006, Howells coach in
In September 2006 Howells was appointed Head Coach of
On 14 January 2012 he was announced as the new manager of the Romanian national team.
In November 2012, he became the head coach of
Head coach of Romania
After an unsuccessful
In the second year of the 2012–14 European Nations Cup First Division, Howells led Romania to a 24–0 victory over Portugal, followed by a 34–3 win over Russia, a 32–6 win over Spain and a 29–10 win over Belgium. Heading into the final match against Georgia, Romania were leading the table with 38 points; however, a 22–9 loss to the Lelos saw the Georgians take their third consecutive
At the start of the
In the second leg of matches of the 2014–16 European Nations Cup First Division, Romania secured wins over Russia, Spain, Germany and Portugal, before losing to Georgia, 38–9, in their final match; a record winning margin for the Lelos. The 2016 World Rugby Nations Cup saw Romania claim their fourth title, after beating Argentina XV, 20–8, in the final. In the 2016 end-of-year rugby union internationals Romania had a vert successful campaign winning all three tests; 23–10 against the United States, 21–16 win over Canada and ended with a 36–10 victory over Uruguay.
During the
2018 saw Howells lead Romania into the final stages of the 2019 European Rugby World Cup qualifiers. Howells began the 2018 Rugby Europe Championship with an 85–6 victory over Germany, however was defeated by Spain the following week, 22–10, for the first time since Howells first took over in 2012. Romania returned to winning ways in rounds three and four, defeating Russia 25–15 and Belgium 62–12. Despite this, following the conclusion of the Belgium game on 10 March, Howells and his staff announced their resignation from the team.[9] His last match in charge saw Georgia defeat his side 25–16 and initially finish second in the 2018 Rugby Europe Championship and qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Howells leaves Romania with a 70% win rate, winning 49 out of 70 games.
2019 Rugby World Cup disqualification
It was alleged that throughout the qualification process, Romania had fielded ineligible players, and that World Rugby and Rugby Europe would investigate the allegations. A neutral panel found that Romania were guilty of breaching Regulation 8 and the panel determined that Romania would be deducted 5 points for each game they had fielded an ineligible player, regardless of if more than one ineligible player had been fielded. The investigation found that Romania had fielded ineligible players 6 times and therefore were deducted 30 points from the table, and effectively disqualifying them from the world cup – Romania now sat third across the two-year aggregate table and bottom of the 2018 Championship.[10][11]
On 29 May 2018, Romania appealed the decision.[12] On 6 June, the appeal failed and the decision was upheld meaning Russia was confirmed as Europe 1 and qualified for the World Cup, whilst Germany advanced to round 6.[13] This meant Russia qualified for the World Cup ahead of Romania.
Honours
- European Nations Cup / Rugby Europe Championships
- Winners: 2017
- Runners-up: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
- Antim Cup
- Winners: 2017
- World Rugby Nations Cup
Other honours
Pontypridd (as assistant coach)
- Welsh Premier Division
- Winners: 1997
- Runners-up: 1995, 1999
- Welsh Cup
- Winners: 1996
- Runners-up: 1995
- WRU Challenge Trophy
- Winners: 1998
- Runners-up: 1999
- Champions Challenge
- Winners: 1997
References
- ^ Rugby Union: Wales call on John for the short term
- ^ Henry the great redeemer
- ^ Rugby Union: Cardiff count cost of rebellion
- ^ "CARDIFF 116 DUNVANT 0". Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ^ WRU axe falls on Warriors
- ^ Edinburgh back in union control
- ^ Howells plots Romania's course back to the glory days
- ^ 2015 Rugby World Cup: Georgia and Romania qualify both book spots in tournament
- ^ STAFF-UL TEHNIC AL ECHIPEI NATIONALE DE RUGBY A DEMISIONAT
- ^ "World Rugby statement regarding the independent disputes committee's decision". Archived from the original on 15 May 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2018.
- ^ MEDIA RELEASE – RWC-2019-QUALIFICATION-DISPUTE-JUDGMENT
- ^ Disciplinary update: Romania and Spain to appeal disputes committee outcomes
- ^ Independent Appeal Committee decision regarding Romania and Spain