David Michael Barnes (born 12 July 1976 in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

) was a

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 ...

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 ...

for

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 ...

in the

Guinness 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 ...

retiring in 2011. He was appointed head of Discipline at the Rugby Football Union in July 2017. Barnes was educated at Nevill Holt,

Sedbergh School Sedbergh School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) in the town of Sedbergh in Cumbria, in North West England. It comprises a junior school for children aged 4 to 13 and the main school for 13 to 18 year olds. It w ...

and

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

. Whilst at Durham, he competed for Kendal RUFC. His performances then led to him playing for

West Hartlepool R.F.C. West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club (nicknamed West) is an English rugby union club who play in Durham/Northumberland 1 in the seventh tier of the English rugby union system. History West Hartlepool Rugby Football Club was formed in 1881. Of ...

, during the 1996–97 season, when they were in the top tier. He subsequently played for the Newcastle Falcons when they won the 1997–98 Premiership. It was during 1997 that Barnes was first involved with England A. Barnes then joined

Harlequin F.C. Harlequins (officially Harlequin Football Club) is a professional rugby union club that plays in Premiership Rugby, the top level of English rugby union. Their home ground is the Twickenham Stoop, located in Twickenham, south-west London. Foun ...

, where he understudied

Jason Leonard Jason Leonard (born 14 August 1968) is an English former rugby union player. He won a then-record 114 caps for England men’s rugby team during a 14-year international career. A prop, Leonard played club rugby for Barking RFC, Saracens and H ...

and played 45 games during his two seasons at the club, before moving to

in 2000. Before retiring from the sport, due to injury, in 2011, he had played 266 first team games for Bath Rugby and a career total of over 200 Premiership games. In 2006, Barnes featured in an England XV side against the

Barbarians A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

. He then captained

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

at the

2006 Churchill Cup The 2006 Churchill Cup was a rugby union competition played between the second teams of various top tier international rugby nations and the first teams of traditionally less prominent teams, such as Canada and the United States. The 2006 tournamen ...

. Barnes played in the final of the 2007-08 European Challenge Cup, as Bath defeated the Worcester Warriors. Barnes, who is uncapped, was called up to Martin Johnson's squad for the

2009 Autumn Internationals The 2009 end of year rugby internationals, also known as the Autumn internationals in the Northern Hemisphere, saw Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina, tour the northern hemisphere. The headline event of the series was an attempted ...

. Barnes withdrew from the squad due to an injury inflicted upon him by teammate Duncan Bell. Barnes is the chairman of The Professional Rugby Players' Association. Barnes also represented the Barbarians FC on 4 occasions with his last appearance being in the 29 - 23 victory over Ireland on 4 June 2010. On retirement he joined the committee of the famous club and currently still holds this position.

Charity work

Throughout and after his Rugby Union career, Barnes has taken on various challenges that he has used to raise money for specific charitable causes. In 2008 he was part of a 4-man team completing the Greene King IPA Challenge trek of Kilimanjaro. This challenge raised several £000's for the PRA Benevolent Fund (now Restart) and Cancer Research UK. In 2011, Barnes was one of the primary organizers for the AXA Wealth Kilimanjaro Challenge that saw 42 people climb Kilimanjaro and raise over £225,000 for charities, including Help for Heroes, Restart and the Rugby Football Union Injured Players Foundation. This challenge was covered by the TV program, Total Rugby and shown in three part
Total Rugby - Kilimanjaro Pt1
As part of this climb, Barnes encouraged Andy Blyth, an ex-teammate at Newcastle Falcons, who had suffered a serious spinal injury playing for Sale Rugby Club, in 2000 to join the trip. In total 39 of the 42 people reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, including Blyth. Having transformed himself from an 18 stone Prop into a long distance runner, he has completed numerous Marathons and Ultra Marathon events. 2014 saw Barnes take on the "toughest race on earth" the 29th Marathon Des Sables. As part of a 3-man team, including injured soldier Martin Hewitt
British Forces News
he successfully completed the 7 day, 150 mile, Ultra Marathon across the Sahara Desert. Once again he used this experience to raise money for charity and supported Help for Heroes, Restart and the Bath Rugby Foundation. His efforts were covered by Total Rugby i
Catch up with David Barnes
December 2014, saw Barnes take on a new challenge to support the military charity, Walking with the Wounded. Accompanied by Stuart Doughty, whom he had also run the 2014 MDS with, he supported the fundraising campaign, Walking home for Christmas, by running non-stop from London to Bath, a distance of over 100 Miles.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-rugby-player-city-businessman-run-walk/story-25747137-detail/story.html

Relatives

Barnes is married to Elie Barnes since 2012 the former Welsh Hockey international who retired in 2015 with 96 caps.

References

External links

Bath profileEngland profileGuinness premiership profileStatbunker profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, David 1976 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union players from Leicester Newcastle Falcons players Harlequin F.C. players Bath Rugby players Rugby union props People educated at Sedbergh School Alumni of Durham University Durham University RFC players