Gareth Leslie "Gaz" Holgate (born 3 December 1987) is a

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 ...

-born Philippine international

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. Born in

St Asaph St Asaph (; cy, Llanelwy "church on the Elwy") is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and community (Wales), community on the River Elwy in Denbighshire, Wales. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census it had a population of 3,355 ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

, Holgate currently plays for Japanese club

Kyuden Voltex Kyuden Voltex is a Japanese rugby team owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyūshū Denryoku). The nickname "Voltex" is a conflation of "Voltage" and "Techniques" and was decided after the team won promotion to the Top League. The team is based ...

. His primary position is as a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, but he can also play as a

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Career

Early years

Born in

, to a Filipina mother and an English father, Holgate grew up in Gwaenysgor, near

Prestatyn Prestatyn is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085, History Prehistory There is evidence that the ...

, and attended

Rydal Penrhos Rydal Penrhos School is an independent day school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. It is the only Methodist school in the independent sector in Wales. It is located on multiple sites around the town with a site in the neighbouring village of Rhos-on-S ...

Colwyn Bay Colwyn Bay ( cy, Bae Colwyn) is a town, community and seaside resort in Conwy County Borough on the north coast of Wales overlooking the Irish Sea. It lies within the historic county of Denbighshire. Eight neighbouring communities are incorpo ...

. While also playing for the school team, he began his rugby career with

Rhyl and District RFC Rhyl and District Rugby Football Club (Welsh: Clwb Rygbi y Rhyl A'r Cylch) is a rugby union club in Rhyl, North Wales. Rhyl and District RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets The Scarlets () a ...

and played for them until he moved to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in 2007 to study at

UWIC , image_name = Shield of Cardiff Metropolitan University.svg , image_size = 150px , motto = cy, Gorau Meddiant Gwybodaeth , mottoeng = The most valuable possession is knowledge , established = 2011 – Car ...

UWIC RFC

While at UWIC, Holgate played for the university rugby team,

UWIC RFC Cardiff Metropolitan University Rugby Football Club (aka Cardiff Met RFC) is a Welsh rugby union team currently playing in the WRU Championship based at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Notable former players ''Inclusion criteria: Attained int ...

, in the

WRU Division One East The Welsh Rugby Union Specsavers Division One East is a rugby union league in Wales. It was 'born' out of a restructure of the former league system that had formally begun in Wales for the 1990/91 season. As a result of the restructure of 2006, t ...

. After a short time with UWIC, Holgate received a call-up to the Philippines rugby sevens team for the 2007 SEA Games in December 2007, having qualified by virtue of his mother's Filipina heritage. The team reached the final, but lost 29–14 to the hosts,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. This was soon followed by appearances for the Philippines national XV in the inaugural Asian Five Nations tournament in July 2008; he scored a try in the team's 101–0 win over

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

and also played in a 20–8 win over

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

as the Philippines won the Pacific-Asia division. He played again in the 2009 Asian Five Nations, but suffered an ankle injury in the Division 3 semi-final against

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

that kept him out of the 25–0 win over Guam in the final. The 2010 Asian Five Nations saw Holgate compete for the Philippines in Division II. He played on the wing in the 53–33 semi-final win over

, before the Philippines went on to beat the hosts,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, 34–12 in the final to secure promotion to Division I.

Zhermack Badia

Holgate graduated from UWIC in 2010 and subsequently signed for Zhermack Badia of

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

, the second tier of rugby in Italy. During the 2010–11 season, he scored seven tries in 18 appearances. The season culminated with Holgate being named in the Philippines squad for the 2011 Asian Five Nations Division I in

Ansan Ansan (Hangeul: , ) is a city in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It lies southwest of Seoul and is part of the Seoul National Capital Area. It is connected to Seoul by rail via Seoul Subway Line 4. It is situated on the Yellow Sea coast and so ...

, South Korea. He played at outside centre in the semi-final against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, but despite a good performance, he was unable to prevent a 34–20 defeat. However, in the third-place play-off against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, Holgate scored a hat-trick of tries as the Philippines secured an 86–20 win to retain their Division I status for the 2012 tournament.

Kyuden Voltex

After a year in Italy, Holgate signed for Japanese club

, who, at the time, played in the second tier of Japanese rugby. He made his debut in a 22–7 friendly win over Meiji University on 12 June 2011. Holgate was part of the Philippines Sevens team that qualified for the

2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the sixth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. New Zealand won the tournament, defeating England 33–0 in the final. Attendance for the tourname ...

tournament in Moscow, their first appearance in the tournament. After a three-week training camp, Holgate was named in the Philippines final 12-man squad for the tournament. Holgate played in all three of the Philippines' Pool C matches against

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

, making history against Kenya by scoring the Philippines' first ever try in the competition.

References

External links

Profile
at KyudenVoltex.com

at Bsynergie Sports Management {{DEFAULTSORT:Holgate, Gareth 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from St Asaph People educated at Rydal Penrhos Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Welsh rugby union players Filipino rugby union players Cardiff Metropolitan University RFC players Welsh expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan British expatriates in Japan Kyuden Voltex players Rugby union players at the 2014 Asian Games Philippines international rugby union players SEA Games gold medalists for the Philippines SEA Games medalists in rugby union Competitors at the 2007 SEA Games Asian Games competitors for the Philippines Rugby union players from Denbighshire Rugby union centres Rugby union fly-halves