Paul Turner (born 13 February 1960) is a former

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 ...

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 and the former head coach of

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 ...

regional side

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 ...

Playing career

Turner was born in Newbridge, and still holds the Newbridge points scoring record of 405 points from season 1983–84 and still remains the only back capped from

Newbridge RFC Newbridge RFC is a Welsh Rugby Union club based in Newbridge, Caerphilly in South Wales. Newbridge RFC was formed in 1888 and joined the WRU in 1911. They play in the WRU Specsavers Division 1 East Club history Newbridge RFC established in ...

. An outside-half, he was a prolific goal-kicker and is the joint record points holder for

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

. He also played for

Pontypool Pontypool ( cy, Pont-y-pŵl ) is a town and the administrative centre of the county borough of Torfaen, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in South Wales. It has a population of 28,970. Location It is situated on the Afon Lwyd ri ...

, Newbridge,

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and Sale FC. He represented

on 3 occasions and played for 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 ...

invitational side three times. Turner represented the Crawshays and the

Penguins Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

at the

Hong Kong Sevens The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...

in 1985, 87 and 88 respectively.

Coaching career

Turner left

and became player/coach at Sale FC in 1992, leaving in 1996 to join

Bedford RFC 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 player/Head Coach, taking both clubs into the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

during his tenure. In 1998/99 he joined

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 ...

as backs coach and then spent 2 seasons at

Rugby Lions The Rugby Lions, nicknamed The Lions, is an English rugby union club based in Rugby, Warwickshire. The club plays its home matches at Webb Ellis Road. Its developmental squad is known as the Crusaders. The club also has a ladies team known as ...

as player/coach, winning promotion to Division 1. In 2001 he left

to work under

Philippe Saint-André Philippe Georges Saint-André (; born 19 April 1967) is a former French rugby union footballer and currently the manager of Top 14 side Montpellier. He earned 69 test caps for France between 1990 and 1997. His preferred position was wing but h ...

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 ...

, winning the inaugural Premiership Grand Final. He moved on to Harlequins as backs coach from 2002 to 2005. In 2005 he was appointed head coach for the

and he stepped down in February 2011. He was Magners league coach of the year for the 2010 season. In July 2011 he was appointed attack and skills coach at

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. T ...

He is currently Head Coach at National 1 side Ampthill RFC.

Other interests

Turner founded his own rugby consultancy business "Paul Turner Rugby" in April 2012 and worked as a rugby consultant on the grassroots rugby programme "Inside Welsh Rugby". In 2014, he rebranded the company as "Paul Turner Sport",Paul Turner Sport
/ref> offering additional services to complement his coaching.

References

External links

Newport Gwent Dragons profileWelsh Rugby Union profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Paul 1960 births Living people Bedford Blues players Crumlin RFC players Dragons RFC coaches Newbridge RFC players Newport RFC players Pontypool RFC players Rugby union players from Newbridge, Caerphilly Sale Sharks players Wales international rugby union players Welsh rugby union coaches Welsh rugby union players