Dwayne John Peel (born 31 August 1981) is a Welsh

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 and former player. He was the most capped scrum-half for the

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 thei ...

with 76 caps, until his record was surpassed by Mike Phillips on 16 March 2013.

Youth and early career

Peel was born in

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, Wales. He started his rugby career playing for

Tumble RFC Tumble RFC or Clwb Rygbi Y Tymbl (Welsh) is a rugby union club representing the village of Tumble, near Llanelli in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets. Clu ...

at Under-8s level. He attended Ysgol Gyfun Maes-yr-Yrfa in

Cefneithin Cefneithin () is a village and community in Carmarthenshire, Wales, in the Carmarthenshire coalfield area. It lies just off the A48 road, 7 miles north west of Ammanford and 9 miles north of Llanelli. Its nearby community villages include Cross ...

, and is a fluent

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

speaker. He made his professional club debut for

Llanelli RFC Llanelli Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Llanelli) is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872. The club's historic home ground was Stradey Park in Llanelli, but they moved in 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent Pembert ...

before joining the

Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

region at its creation in 2003.

International

Peel made his international debut for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 2001 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. He was still on his geography degree course at the

Swansea University , former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea , motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn , mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture" , established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...

at the time. During his time at Swansea University, he became friends with Edward Lewsey – a Welsh Under-21 international, and brother of England international

Josh Lewsey Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer. Background and early life Lewsey was born in Bromley, L ...

. Peel has since scored five tries (25 points) scoring his debut Test try against Italy in 2003 for Wales. In 2005, Peel was selected for the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, and was the youngest Lion on the tour. On 9 September 2007, Peel was captain for Wales when they beat Canada 42–17 in their opening match in the 2007 Rugby World Cup. On 15 January 2008, it was announced by the Scarlets that Peel would be joining

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

at the end of the 2007–08 season. Peel joined, on a three-year contract, at the start of the 2008–09 season. New

coach

Warren Gatland Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

later stated that Peel would be an exception to his desired policy to select players from those playing for Welsh clubs, but on 19 January 2009 it was announced that Peel would not be part of the

squad for the

2009 Six Nations Championship The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national t ...

. Peel was subsequently called into the squad, however, as cover for injured

Gareth Cooper Gareth Cooper (born 7 May 1979 in Bridgend) is a former Wales international rugby union player who played in the scrum-half position. Career Cooper started playing rugby with Pencoed before moving to Bath in the West Country. Cooper made his i ...

and on 8 February 2009 played in the second half of Wales' opening match against Scotland. In the 2012-2013 Premiership season, Peel was involved in the 32-9 win on 12 April against

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 ...

, scoring two tries. He was also named in the Barbarians squad for the 2013 Summer internationals, to play against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. Peel then signed for

Bristol Rugby Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

for the 2014–15 season, being appointed club captain in the process playing alongside Welsh internationals Ryan Jones and Ian Evans.

International tries

Coaching

On 15 February 2017,

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

announced Peel would join them as assistant coach from the start of the 2017–18 season on a two-year contract. Peel was due to join the

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby ( cy, Rygbi Caerdydd) are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms ...

for the 2021–22 season as senior assistant coach responsible for attack. However, Peel joined the Scarlets as head coach for the 2021–22 season instead.

References

External links

profile
at WRU.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Peel, Dwayne 1981 births Living people Rugby union players from Carmarthen Rugby union scrum-halves Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Llanelli RFC players Scarlets players Sale Sharks players Bristol Bears players Ulster Rugby non-playing staff Wales rugby union captains