Bob Dwyer AM (born 29 November 1940) is an Australian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Early life

Educated at

Sydney Boys High School Sydney Boys High School (”SBHS”), otherwise known as The Sydney High School (“SHS”) or High, is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex school, single-sex Selective school (New South Wales), academically s ...

, graduating in 1957, where he played 2nd XV for the school where he played alongside former

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilita ...

and

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

player

George Taylforth George Henry Taylforth (born 25 January 1941) is a British-born Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played for Canterbury-Bankstown and Cronulla-Sutherland, notable for his long-range go ...

and

St. George Dragons The St. George Dragons is an Australian rugby league football club from St George District in Sydney, New South Wales that played in the top level New South Wales competition and Australian Rugby League competitions from the 1921 until th ...

halfback George Evans.

Career

Dwyer coached

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

club Randwick to four Sydney championship wins before becoming

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

's national team coach. He coached Australia from 1982–83, and again from 1988-95. He coached Australia to victory at the

1991 Rugby World Cup The 1991 Rugby World Cup was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup, and was jointly hosted by England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France: at the time, the five European countries who participated in the Five Nations Championship. This was ...

. Dwyer moved to

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

after the game turned professional in 1996 and replaced Tony Russ. Tigers had immediate success, in 1997 reaching the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

final and winning the

Pilkington Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

, but finished fourth in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

. Dwyer's harsh attitude to the players led to them dubbing him 'Barb Dwyer' ('barbed wire') and a public spat with one of them,

Austin Healey Austin Sean Healey (born 26 October 1973 in Wallasey (now part of Merseyside, formerly Cheshire), is a former English rugby union player who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and represented both England and the British & Irish L ...

ensued. The club's board decided to replace Dwyer with former club captain Dean Richards. In 1998 Dwyer was appointed head coach of recently relegated

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. Under him the club returned to the Premiership at the first time of asking. The next season saw Bristol finish sixth in the top flight and narrowly miss out on qualification for the

. In 2000, Dwyer left Bristol after changes to the club's back room staff. In his time at Bristol Dwyer was a forceful advocate for the club's potential to be the leading light in English rugby, "the potential here is greater than in any other rugby city in England, including Leicester". In 2001 Dwyer returned to Australia and became coach of the

New South Wales Waratahs The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...

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 ...

(at the time known as

Super 12 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 ...

). He led the Waratahs to an eighth-place finish in 2001 and their first semi-final in the competition in 2002. He resigned in 2003 after a fifth-place finish but stayed with the New South Wales union as a development officer. In 2011, he was inducted into the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

, alongside all other

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

-winning head coaches and captains through the 2007 edition.

Books

He has written two autobiographies - ''The Winning Way'' (1992) and ''Full Time: A coach's Memoirs'' (2004). He was inducted into the

Sport Australia Hall of Fame The Sport Australia Hall of Fame was established on 10 December 1985 to recognise the achievements of Australian sportsmen and sportswomen. The inaugural induction included 120 members with Sir Don Bradman as the first inductee and Dawn Fraser th ...

in 1991 and was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in 2004 for services to rugby union. Dwyer survived a heart attack in 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwyer, Bob 1940 births Living people Australian rugby union coaches World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Members of the Order of Australia Sport Australia Hall of Fame inductees Australia national rugby union team coaches People educated at Sydney Boys High School Leicester Tigers coaches