Shaun Edwards
Playing information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 11 st 10 lb (74 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Position | Fullback, Stand-off, Scrum-half | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Coaching information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shaun Edwards, OBE (born 17 October 1966) is an English rugby union coach and former rugby league player, who is the defence coach for the France national team. A scrum-half or stand-off, Edwards is the most decorated player in rugby league history, with 37 winner's medals. In 2015 he was the 25th person inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame.[6]
At schoolboy level, he captained England in both rugby league and rugby union. He played for
Edwards played 36 times for Great Britain, as well as for England in 1995 and 1996 and Ireland in 1998. In all, he appeared in three Rugby League World Cups.[1]
After retiring from playing he joined London Wasps in rugby union as assistant coach in 2001, and was head coach from 2005 to 2011. During his time at the club they won two Heineken Cups, four Premiership titles, an Anglo-Welsh trophy and the European Challenge Cup.
In 2008 he became Wales' defence coach, and has won four Six Nations championships, including three Grand Slams. He was also defence coach for the British & Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa in 2009. He joined France in 2020 and won the Grand Slam in 2022.
Early life
Edwards was born in Wigan, Lancashire, England. His father, Jackie Edwards, played for Warrington from 1955 to 1964, as stand-off, or scrum-half, until a severe spinal injury ended his career prematurely at age 24.[8] His uncle Bobby Edwards played one match for Warrington in the halves against New Zealand at Wilderspool Stadium on Saturday 23 September 1961.
Edwards was England schoolboy captain at both rugby league and rugby union, and had been pursued by several clubs.
His younger brother, Billy-Joe, also played rugby league for Wigan until his death, in a car crash, in 2003.
Playing career
Edwards signed for Wigan in a blaze of media coverage on his seventeenth birthday; for a fee of £35,000,
In the
in his side's victory.Edwards played in Wigan's
In 1990, Edwards received the
Edwards finished the 1991–92 season as the league's leading try scorer with a total of 40. He matched Wigan's record for most tries in a single match (10) in the 78–0 rout of Swinton in the Lancashire County Cup 2nd round in September 1992.[11] It was a County Cup record and record for a non-winger in any game. In addition he scored four tries in a game on four occasions and hat-tricks seven times. During the 1992–93 season Edwards played at scrum half for defending RFL champions Wigan in the 1992 World Club Challenge against the visiting Brisbane Broncos. He played in Wigan's 1994 World Club Challenge win over the Brisbane Broncos in Australia which attracted a World Club Challenge record attendance of 54,220, and also played in the first game of the 1996 cross-code challenge series against Bath.
Edwards played in every round of Wigan's eight consecutive Challenge Cup wins. Altogether he made 452 appearances for Wigan. He played his last game for the club against St. Helens in the Challenge Cup defeat at Knowsley Road in 1997. Edwards left Wigan that year to move near his son James, signing for the London Broncos. He fell out with new coach Eric Hughes, who refused Edwards permission to miss the first training session of each week, in order for him to spend time with his son in London. The decision to allow Edwards to leave the club led to multiple complaints from Wigan fans. After just a season in London, Edwards moved to Bradford Bulls but after only a few months returned to London, where he led the London Broncos to the 1999 Challenge Cup final at Wembley.[12] He retired in 2000.
International
Edwards was the youngest ever player to play for Great Britain when he played against
He was sent off for a high tackle on Bradley Clyde in the first Ashes test match of 1994 at Wembley.[15] He played for Great Britain 36 times, starting 32 games with a further four from the substitutes bench, and scored 16 tries.
Edwards was England's captain for the 1995 World Cup tournament, but ruled himself out of the final against Australia with an infected knee.[16]
Coaching career
In 2001, Edwards joined
Edwards teamed up with Gatland again, after the latter was appointed head coach of
Since joining the Wales coaching team, Edwards has helped the nation to Grand Slam wins in 2008, 2012 and 2019 as well the Six Nations title in 2013. Wales also reached the last four of the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. In Edwards' first Six Nations Wales conceded just two tries on their way to the title and in 2013–14 Wales went more than 400 minutes in the tournament without conceding a try. He was named Rugby World International Coach of the Year in 2008.[citation needed]
He was defence coach for the British & Irish Lions on their tour of South Africa in 2009.
On 8 August 2018 it was announced that Edwards would return to rugby league to coach his former club Wigan Warriors in 2020, after completing his commitments with Wales. He described it as an opportunity too special to turn down. However, in March 2019 he stated that he had not signed a contract with Wigan, despite already posing for press photographs and conducting interviews at Wigan's ground about this role, instead signing up as France defence coach early 2020.[20]His decision not to take the role at the Warriors was not popular with fans, and Edwards himself acknowledged it had affected his legacy at the club.
Personal life
This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (January 2019) |
Edwards had a long-term relationship with M People singer Heather Small, with whom he has a son, Labour Party councillor James Small-Edwards.[21] Although no longer together, a key factor in his moving to the south was that he could be close to his son. When offered the job of coaching the Great Britain rugby league team he turned it down because it would mean being in the north a lot of the time, away from his family.[citation needed]
He is the patron of Looseheadz, a charity raising awareness for mental health.[22]
Honours
Club
Wigan
- World Club Challenge (3): 1987, 1991, 1994
- 1994, 1995
- Lancashire Cup (5): 1985–86, 1986–87, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1992–93
- Premiership (5): 1986–87, 1991–92, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996
As head coach
- Wasps
- Heineken Cup(1)
- Premiership(1)
- European Challenge Cup(1)
As assistant coach
- Wasps
- Heineken Cup(1)
- Premiership(3)
- Wales
- Six Nations (4)
- France
- Six Nations (1)
Individual
Orders and awards
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire OBE
- Wigan Warriors Hall of Fame
- Rugby League Hall of Fame
References
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Statistics at wiganwarriorsfans.com". wiganwarriorsfans.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ "Statistics at nrlstats.com (archived by web.archive.org)". nrlstats.com. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 9 August 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Shaun Edwards inducted into Rugby League Hall of Fame". Sky Sports. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
- ISBN 9780826491459.
- ^ Lewis, Tim (13 June 2008). "Wales coach tells how religion gives him strength". Western Mail. Retrieved 13 June 2008.
- ^ "Rugby league players killed in crash". BBC. 14 February 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2008.
- ISBN 9780618252107.
- ^ "RECORDS" Archived 28 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine at wiganwarriors.com
- ^ news.bbc.co.uk (27 February 2004). "Cup heroes: Shaun Edwards". BBC Sport. UK: BBC. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
- ProQuest 186834655.
- ProQuest 187055027.
- ^ de la Rivière, Richard. "Shaun Edwards OBE". Richard de la Rivière. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
- ^ "A fear of failure spurs Australia (archived by web.archive.org)". The Age. 27 October 1995. Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 4 January 2014.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ Mott, Sue (16 February 2008). "Fear of failure spurs Shaun Edwards". Telegraph. London.[dead link]
- ^ "Edwards is world's best - Dawson". BBC Sport. 31 January 2008.
- ^ Averis, Mike (1 November 2011). "England and Wales on alert as Shaun Edwards leaves London Wasps". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Shaun Edwards says he has not signed contract with Wigan". 17 March 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
- ^ Topping, Stephen (6 May 2022). "Heather Small and rugby legend Shaun Edwards' son elected as councillor". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
- ^ "Foundation". LooseHeadz - Tackle The Stigma. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
External links
- Official website
- Statistics at wigan.rlfans.com
- (archived by web.archive.org) Wasps profile
- (archived by web.archive.org) Wales profile
- (archived by web.archive.org) Edwards takes Wales job
- (archived by web.archive.org) Crooks in trouble
- (archived by web.archive.org) When Britain defeated the Aussies