Darren Edwards (born 25 March 1974 in

Maesteg Maesteg is a town and community (Wales), community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English ...

, Wales) is a former

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 it ...

player. A scrum-half, he was a member of the 2003

Wales national rugby union team The Wales national rugby union team ( cy, Tîm rygbi'r undeb cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played the ...

and he played for Wales, Wales A, Sevens, Under-21, Students and Under-18 levels. Edwards also played for the Barbarians against , and . Edwards began his senior playing career with Saracens in 1996 and joined Newport RFC in 2000, playing 21 times for the club. He also made more than 100 appearances for London Irish and played for Bedford and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

before ending at

Leeds Carnegie Leeds Carnegie was a brand name used by several sports teams associated with the Carnegie School of Physical Education, now part of Leeds Beckett University. These include: Current * Leeds Carnegie Handball Club Changed name * Leeds Carnegie ...

. He played in the 2002 Powergen Cup Final at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, as London Irish defeated the

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

. Edwards retired from playing at the end of the 2007–2008 season to take up Coaching at Harlequins. In June 2009 he joined

Newport Gwent Dragons Dragons RFC ( cy, Dreigiau) are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport and at other grounds around the region. They play in ...

as attack coach, replacing

Lyn Jones Lyn Jones (born 1964) is a former Wales international rugby union player, and now works as a coach. A flanker, Jones has experience at various different levels of the game, both as a player and a coach. Jones played most of his playing career for ...

. During 2010 Edwards was head coach of the Wales Under 20 team. In April 2011 Edwards became

head coach after initially taking the role in a caretaker capacity following the departure of Paul Turner. Edwards left the Dragons in February 2014. In June 2014 Edwards joined Bath as first team coach. Edwards departed Bath at the end of the 2018–19 Premiership season, taking up a position with Wales Sevens soon after. Edwards was named as interim head coach of Wales Women in 2020, after the departure of previous head coach Rowland Phillips. His involvement with the team continued in late 2021, assuming the role of skills coach. In 2022, Edwards joined the Ospreys as defence coach until the end of the season. Ahead of the

2022–23 United Rugby Championship The 2022–23 United Rugby Championship is the 22nd season of the professional rugby union competition United Rugby Championship. It began on 16 September 2022. For sponsorship reasons it is known in South Africa as Vodacom United Rugby Champions ...

season, this position was made permanent.

References

External links

Statbunker profile

London Irish profile

1974 births Living people Dragons RFC coaches Leeds Tykes players London Irish players Newport RFC players Rugby union players from Maesteg Saracens F.C. players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players {{wales-rugbyunion-bio-stub