Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) 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 ...

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 who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached

Lansdowne FC Lansdowne Football Club, also sometimes referred to as Lansdowne Rugby Football Club, is a rugby union team based in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1872 by Henry Dunlop as the ''Irish Champion Athletic Club''. Its senior team currently play ...

. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the

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 ...

until his resignation on 28 April 2010. He was the coach of the

Welsh national The Coral Welsh Grand National is a Premier Handicap National Hunt steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Chepstow, Wales, over a distance of about ...

team from 2004 until February 2006 and Leinster Coach from 1997 to 2000. He is the father of 3 children. Irish rugby union international

Rhys Ruddock Rhys Ruddock (born 13 November 1990) is a professional rugby union player. He currently plays for St Mary's College RFC and Leinster. He plays in the backrow, at 6 or 8. In the 2009/2010 season, he captained the Irish U20s to winning the Six Nat ...

, Ciaran Ruddock and Katie Ruddock.

Playing career

Ruddock was born in

Blaina Blaina ( cy, Blaenau ) is a small town, situated deep within the South Wales Valleys between Brynmawr and Abertillery in the unitary authority of Blaenau Gwent, ancient parish of Aberystruth, preserved county of Gwent and historic county o ...

, and played in the back row for his local team,

. He also played for

Tredegar Tredegar (pronounced , ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the In ...

and

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, making 119 appearances for Swansea and scoring 43 tries. He also played for Wales under-16s and Wales B, but his playing days were ended prematurely by an accident at work in 1985. Working as an electricity linesman, he fell from a pole, suffering serious injuries including three compressed vertebrae and a fractured skull.

Coaching career

Club rugby

He began his career as a coach at

and guided them to a Monmouthshire Premier League title & a Ben Francis Cup victory, he later coached Cross Keys and had a spell in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

with

Bective Rangers Bective Rangers Football Club is a rugby union club in Dublin, Ireland founded in 1881. The Club is affiliated to the Leinster Branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union and play in Division 1A of the Leinster League. The club plays its games a ...

. As coach of

, he recorded a 21–6 win over the touring

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

ns in 1992 and won

Welsh league The Welsh League was the first club rugby league competition in Wales.Lush (1998), pg. 19 Its inaugural season was in 1908/09 when four additional teams were formed to join Ebbw Vale RLFC and Merthyr Tydfil RLFC, which allowed a league tournamen ...

titles in 1992 and 1994 and the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

in 1995. In 1997, he again moved to

as director of coaching at

Leinster Leinster ( ; ga, Laighin or ) is one of the provinces of Ireland, situated in the southeast and east of Ireland. The province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige. Following the 12th-century Norman invasion of Ir ...

. Returning to

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 2000, he coached

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; cy, Glynebwy) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr con ...

and Wales 'A' then coached

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 ...

with considerable success.

Wales national team

Ruddock was given control of the Wales team to face

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in the run up to the

2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby World Cup. Originally planned to be hosted by India, all games were shifted to Australia following a contractual dispute over ground signage rights between the Indian Rugby Union and Rugby World Cup ...

, a match which

won 54–8 – their first win in 11 games. In 2004,

Steve Hansen Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief Of Vaiala, (born 7 May 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen. He was the head coach of the New Zealand nati ...

left his post as coach of the Welsh national side to return to New Zealand, and Ruddock was appointed to the job in March 2004, following the

2004 Six Nations Championship The 2004 Six Nations Championship was the fifth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship to be held since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Overall, this was the 110th series of the international championship. Match wi ...

. In his first season,

completed the

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

in the

Six Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

for the first time since 1978. He received an OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List.Worcester profile
On 14 February 2006, Ruddock resigned as coach of the Wales national team when contract negotiations with the WRU broke down.

Post Welsh national coach

Ruddock temporarily left rugby following his departure from the Wales team, but soon returned to the game as an assistant coach of

Mumbles RFC Mumbles Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Mumbles, Swansea, south Wales. Mumbles RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union, and is a feeder club for the Ospreys. They compete in the WRU Division Two West, the fifth tier o ...

winning the Division 3 South West title, also taking charge of a World XV and coaching the forwards of a

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 ...

select team on a tour of England & South Africa. During his coaching career Ruddock won the Welsh Coach of the Year in 1992 and 2005.

Worcester

Ruddock's return to the mainstream was announced on 1 May 2007, when, two days after narrowly avoiding relegation from 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 ...

appointed Ruddock as Director of Rugby, replacing John Brain. Ruddock took Worcester to the Amlin Challenge Cup Final as well as the Middlesex 7's final at Twickenham before their luck ran out. Following the Warriors 12–10 defeat to

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 ...

on 25 April 2010, the Worcester were relegated from the

, and Mike Ruddock subsequently resigned from his post as Director of Rugby on 28 April.

Ireland U-20

It was announced on 4 August 2010 that Ruddock was appointed as head coach of the Ireland Under-20 Rugby Union Team.

References

External links

Wales profile

WRU profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruddock, Mike 1959 births Living people Blaina RFC players Dragons RFC coaches Leinster Rugby non-playing staff Officers of the Order of the British Empire Rugby union players from Blaina Swansea RFC players Tredegar RFC players Wales national rugby union team coaches Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players