Brett Wilkinson (born 29 November 1983) is a South African born rugby union coach and former player. He is currently scrum coach at Ealing Trailfinders. Previously, he was Head Coach for

HKU The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the fir ...

Sandy Bay in the Hong Kong Premiership and scrum coach for the Hong Kong national team and

Global Rapid Rugby Global Rapid Rugby was an international rugby union competition that launched a showcase series for six professional teams in 2019, played in locations across the Asia-Pacific region. Rapid Rugby matches are slightly shorter than the tradition ...

side the

South China Tigers The South China Tigers is a professional rugby union team from Hong Kong that plays in the Global Rapid Rugby competition. The team was launched in 2018 to participate in the inaugural Global Rapid Rugby season. For the naming of the team, S ...

. He coached at Brunel University for 1 year between 2021-2022 before being promoted to Ealing Trailfinders Scrum coach. During his playing career, he played as a

prop A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinct ...

. From 2006 until 2014, when he was forced to retire due to injury, Wilkinson played for Irish provincial side Connacht, and also represented Ireland at international 'A' level after qualifying on residency. After retiring from playing, he started his coaching career in Ireland, becoming head coach of All-Ireland League side Buccaneers.

Playing career

Schools

Wilkinson attended Kingswood College in Grahamstown, playing for the school's senior rugby team. He came to prominence while playing for the University of Cape Town, and after a successful season in 2005 received a number of offers but chose to move to Europe and play for Irish side Connacht.

Connacht

Wilkinson joined Connacht for the 2006–07 season, and made his debut on 1 September 2006 in an away victory over Scottish side

Border Reivers Border reivers were Cattle raiding, raiders along the Anglo-Scottish border from the late 13th century to the beginning of the 17th century. They included both Scotland, Scottish and England, English people, and they raided the entire border ...

in the Celtic League, playing the full 80 minutes in a Connacht victory. He made his first European appearance for Connacht on 20 October 2006 against Harlequins in the

2006–07 European Challenge Cup The 2006–07 European Challenge Cup was the 11th year of the European Challenge Cup, the second tier rugby union cup competition below the Heineken Cup. The tournament was held between October 2006 and May 2007. Group stage Pool 1 Pool 2 ...

coming on as a replacement. Wilkinson played in a total of 18 Celtic League matches in his first season, 16 of these coming as starts, and also played in five Challenge Cup matches. In the following season, Wilkinson continued to play regularly for the side. With the number of teams reduced to 10 for the

2007–08 Celtic League The 2007–08 Celtic League (known as the 2007–08 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the seventh Celtic League season and the second with Magners as title sponsor. The season began on 31 August 2007 and finished on the weekend beginning ...

, Wilkinson featured in all 18 of Connacht's matches, with only one of these appearances coming as a replacement. As well as his appearances in the Celtic League, Wilkinson started all six of Connacht's games in the

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

. Wilkinson held on to his spot in the starting team over the following seasons, playing in 15 games in the

2008–09 Celtic League The 2008–09 Celtic League (known as the 2008–09 Magners League for sponsorship reasons) was the eighth Celtic League season and the third with Magners as title sponsor. The season began in September 2008 and ended in May 2009. Ten teams played ...

and six of the side's games as they reached the quarter-finals of the

2008–09 European Challenge Cup The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twick ...

. In the 2009–10 season, he played in 16 Celtic League games, and featured regularly for the province as they made the semi-finals of the

. Wilkinson played in the semi-final as Connacht were narrowly beaten in the Sporstground by Toulon. In October 2010 Wilkinson earned his 100th cap for Connacht. With the number of teams having been expanded to 12, he played in 20 games in the

2010–11 Celtic League The 2010–11 Magners League was the tenth Celtic League season and the fifth with Magners as title sponsor. The regular season began on 3 September 2010 and finished on the weekend of 6–8 May 2011. During these stages, each team played every ot ...

under new coach Eric Elwood. Wilkinson also started five games in the

that season. The following season saw Wilkinson make 18 appearances in the

Pro12 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

, the new name given to the league, starting in 15 of the matches. That season also saw Connacht qualify for their first ever

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 ...

, and Wilkinson played his first ever match at the highest level of European rugby away against Harlequins at the Stoop. He went on to start every one of Connacht's pool matches, including their first ever Heineken Cup win in the return match against Harlequins at the Sportsground. In the 2012–13 season, Wilkinson played 18 games in the

. Connacht again qualified for the

, with Wilkinson starting in three of the province's six matches, and featuring as a replacement in another two. In 2013–14 Wilkinson started out the season playing regularly. Out of Connacht's first 12 matches in the

, he started 10 and made a substitute appearance in another. Wilkinson also started all six of Connacht's games in the

2013–14 Heineken Cup The 2013–14 Heineken Cup was the 19th and final season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The pool stage began on 11 October 2013 and ran through to 17–19 ...

, including a victory over four-time Heineken Cup winners Toulouse. In Connacht's final match of the pool stages away to

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

, Wilkinson was forced to leave the field and be replaced due to injury. On 26 March 2014, it was announced that Wilkinson was retiring from rugby due to a neck ligament injury sustained against Saracens, having played for Connacht 183 times.

International

Although born in South Africa, Wilkinson qualified to play for Ireland through the three-year residency rule. Wilkinson was called to train with the Ireland squad in 2009. He was also called up to the senior Ireland squad for the tour of New Zealand in 2012. Wilkinson made five appearances for Ireland's second tier side, now known as Ireland Wolfhounds, scoring a try against Tonga in 2009.

Coaching career

Buccaneers

In 2015, Wilkinson became head coach of the Connacht branch All-Ireland League side Buccaneers. In his first season in charge, he guided the Division 1B side to the promotion play-offs. The team also won the Connacht Senior League title for the first time since 2007. The team did even better in Wilkinson's second season, winning a League and

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

double in Connacht, as well claiming the 2016–17 Division 1B title, earning the Buccaneers promotion to the top flight of club rugby in Ireland for the first time in a decade.

Move to Hong Kong

In June 2017, it was announced that Wilkinson would depart Buccaneers, having taken an offer of a coaching role with Hong Kong Premiership side Hong Kong Cricket. The move saw him link up with former Connacht teammate and fellow South African, Dylan Rogers. Wilkinson's first season with the team saw them struggle, winning only one game all season. In May 2018, the rugby section from Hong Kong cricket club, including Wilkinson, moved en masse to join with the Hong Kong University and Sandy Bay RFC which had been a mini and youth rugby club only up to that point, forming a new senior club, Hong Kong University Sandy Bay RFC. Following a tough start to the first season for this new senior team, where they won only two games before Christmas, they turned it around in the second half of the season. Wilkinson's charges won five games in a row, all with bonus points, to make the playoffs and from there ultimately won the Grand Championship in the new side's first season. In addition to serving as head coach of Sandy Bay, Wilkinson's time in Hong Kong has seen him become assistant coach to other teams. He serves as scrum coach to the Hong Kong national side and to the

in the

competition.

References

External links

IRFU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkinson, Brett 1983 births Living people Connacht Rugby players Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Sportspeople from Makhanda, Eastern Cape Rugby union props South African rugby union coaches South African rugby union players South African expatriate rugby union players South African expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Alumni of Kingswood College (South Africa)