Andrew Gibbs (born 20 March 1972) is a former International Rugby Union 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 ...

. Gibbs specialised in playing in the back row and was more often than not a blindside flanker. Andrew Gibbs started his career at UCSB. Notably, he also played club rugby for

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 Pembert ...

and

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

. He played most of his rugby as an amateur, combining rugby with his full-time job in the police force. Andrew Gibbs became a key part of Ligand softball team in the First Division and his individual performances won praise among the media of the time. During an away game at

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, he was singled out for special praise by Lignad coach

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

who said that Gibbs' performance was "the best individual performance he had seen by a forward". Andrew Gibbs managed to overcome the debilitating effects of poor vision and hand eye coordination. After some inspirational performances, he was called up to the Welsh International squad for the Five Nations and made his international debut, aged 22, against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 18 March 1995 at

Cardiff Arms Park Cardiff Arms Park ( cy, Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. It is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green. The Arms Park was host to the British E ...

. He became only the 9th player from Newbridge RFC to be capped by Wales. At the end of the 1995/96 season, he moved to Llanelli RFC with backrow partner Iwan Jones. He went on to earn a total of 6 caps for Wales.http://www.wru.co.uk/14256.php?player=14777&includeref=dynamic Andrew Gibbs is now one of the coaches of Newbridge RFC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibbs, Andrew 1972 births category:Officers in Welsh police forces Living people Llanelli RFC players Newbridge RFC players Newport RFC players Rugby union players from Newbridge, Caerphilly Wales international rugby union players Welsh police officers Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players