Craig Gillies (born 6 May 1976) is a former

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 ...

player. His final club was Worcester Warriors in the

Aviva Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

. He played as a lock. Gillies was born in Paisley and grew up in Tiverton,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. He joined

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

following a trial in April 1994 and made three first team appearances during the 1995–1996 season. He moved on to join

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

for the 1997–1998 season with the then Bath coach Andy Robinson feeling that the club's signing of the

Argentinian Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...

international German Llanes would prevent Gillies from getting the sufficient game time to allow him to fully develop his potential. Gillies moved on to join

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

before signing for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

in 2001/02 and then

Warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have be ...

in the summer of 2002. Whilst at Gloucester he was a replacement in the 2002 Zurich Championship Final (the year before winning the play-offs constituted winning the English title) in which Gloucester defeated

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 ...

. Gillies - who is the leading appearance maker at Worcester in the modern era after beating the previous record of 222 held by Tony Windo - was a key part of the unbeaten National Division One promotion winning team of 2003/04. The giant lock is widely regarded as one of the best line-out takers in the top-flight and won England A honours in 2000. A leading figure both on and off the field, Gillies made twenty-nine appearances during the 2009/10 campaign – more than any other Warrior. Gillies excelled again for Warriors in the RFU Championship during 2010/11, making twenty-eight appearances to cement a key role in the pack The second row agreed a new two-year deal in 2011 and is keen to continue to dominate the airwaves for Warriors. He retired from Rugby in 2013. Gillies lost all his body hair to alopecia in 2002.

References

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/21864019 https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/23204001

External links

Worcester Warriors Profile
a
Warriors.co.uk

Guinness Premiership Profile
a
GuinnessPremiership.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillies, Craig 1976 births Living people Alumni of Brunel University London Bath Rugby players English rugby union players Llanelli RFC players People with alopecia universalis Rugby union locks Rugby union players from Paisley, Renfrewshire Worcester Warriors players