Luke Baldwin (born 15 September 1990) is a retired

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

Royal Tunbridge Wells Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. ...

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 ...

. He most recently played for

Dragons A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The current name was adopted in 2021 when the league expanded to include four South Afr ...

on loan from

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 ...

side,

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in Administration (law), administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top ...

as a scrum-half.

Early life

Baldwin was educated at

The Judd School The Judd School (often known simply as Judd) is a voluntary aided grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, England. It was established in 1888 at Stafford House on East Street in Tonbridge, where it remained for eight years before moving to its present ...

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling, it had an estimated population ...

, where he also played rugby for them. In 2003, he represented Judd at Kent County Athletics U13 Championships at Canterbury High School, finishing third in the 75-metre hurdles and fourth in the 100-metres.

Club career

Baldwin started playing rugby for

Tunbridge Wells RFC Tunbridge Wells RFC is an English Rugby union club that plays in Regional 1 South East from Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. History Tunbridge Wells RFC was officially formed as Old Skinners RFC in 1931 as a rugby union club for former pup ...

. In 2006, he signed with

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...

Academy where he trained while also playing for Tunbridge Wells until 2009. After leaving Tunbridge Wells, he was loaned to

Blackheath F.C. Blackheath Football Club is a rugby union club based in Well Hall, Eltham in south-east London. The club was founded in Blackheath, London, Blackheath in 1858, and is the fourth-oldest rugby club in continuous existence in the world, after Du ...

He made his debut for Saracens in 2010 and went on to make 5 first team appearances for Saracens. In 2010, he was loaned to RFU Championship side,

Bedford Blues Bedford Blues are a rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in The RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team. The Blues are a semi-pro ...

as part of a player linkup. In 2012, he returned to

on a dual registration with Saracens. While at Bedford, he received praise for his performances. He also represented Saracens in the

Premiership Rugby Sevens Series The Premiership Rugby Sevens Series is a friendly Rugby Sevens competition for the twelve Premiership Rugby clubs that will play the following season (i.e. the 2010 competition features the teams playing in the Aviva Premiership in the 2010� ...

while also playing for Bedford Blues in the RFU Championship. In 2013, he left Saracens and Bedford Blues and signed for Bristol Rugby, playing his final game for Bedford against

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 seasons, ...

. On 17 February 2015, Baldwin left Bristol to join local rivals

who make their move to the

from the 2015-16 season. On 4 July 2019, Baldwin will join Welsh region

in the

on a season-long loan for the 2019-20 season. On 22 May 2020, Baldwin extends his loan with Dragons for another season for the 2020-21 season. Baldwin left Worcester in Summer 2021 and announced his retirement from rugby.

Representative Honours

In 2007, he was selected to play for the Kent RFU and was later called up for London & South East Under-18s. In 2008, he was selected to play for England under-16s. In 2010, Baldwin was selected to play for

England Counties XV England Counties XV is a representative rugby union team, formed in 2002, open to English players who play in the County Championship and the third tier (and below) of the English rugby union system. Players from the Premiership and RFU Champi ...

against AIB Ireland Club XV and the France amateur national rugby union team. In 2012, he played for

RFU Championship XV The RFU Championship XV is an invitational rugby union team composed of English qualified players from the second tier competition, the RFU Championship. The team was originally formed for a one–off match against a strong Māori All Blacks team a ...

against the

Māori All Blacks The Māori All Blacks, previously called the New Zealand Maori, New Zealand Maoris and New Zealand Natives, are a rugby union team from New Zealand. They are a representative team of the New Zealand Rugby Union, and a prerequisite for playing i ...

after being selected by Bedford Blues coach, Mike Rayner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Luke 1990 births Living people Bedford Blues players Blackheath F.C. players Bristol Bears players English rugby union players People educated at The Judd School Rugby union players from Royal Tunbridge Wells Rugby union scrum-halves Saracens F.C. players Worcester Warriors players Dragons RFC players Rosslyn Park F.C. players