Rob Graham Thirlby (born 2 March 1979) is an

English rugby Rugby union in England is one of the leading professional and recreational team sports. In 1871 the Rugby Football Union, the governing body for rugby union in England, was formed by 21 rugby clubs, and the first international match, which involv ...

union player who plays on the

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

or full back for

Yatton Yatton is a village and civil parish within the unitary authority of North Somerset, which falls within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located south-west of Bristol. Its population in 2011 was 7,552. The parish includes Clav ...

whilst also acting as the video analyst for

Gloucester Rugby Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed i ...

. He previously played for

Moseley Moseley is a suburb of south Birmingham, England, south of the city centre. The area is a popular cosmopolitan residential location and leisure destination, with a number of bars and restaurants. The area also has a number of boutiques and ot ...

, Penzance-Newlyn, and for

Redruth Redruth ( , kw, Resrudh) is a town and civil parishes in Cornwall, civil parish in Cornwall, England. The population of Redruth was 14,018 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also inc ...

whom he joined from

. He played regularly for the

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

team.

Early life

Thirlby was born in

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

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 educated at

Richard Lander School Richard Lander School is a coeducational secondary school located in Truro, Cornwall, England. It is named after Richard Lemon Lander. It is a community school administered by Cornwall Council. Notable former pupils *Darren Dawidiuk, rugby p ...

Club career

Thirlby began his career with

before guesting for Penzance & Newlyn in the 1998 Safari Sevens tournament in

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

where he was spotted by

Kyran Bracken Kyran Paul Patrick Bracken MBE (born 22 November 1971) is a world-cup winning former rugby union footballer who played at scrum-half for Saracens, Bristol and Waterloo. He won a total of 51 England caps and captained the team on three occasi ...

who recommended him to

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 ...

and Thirlby joined the club ahead of the 1998–1999 season. He made his Sarries debut in an Anglo-Welsh clash with

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 ...

on 16 January 1999, kicking 11 points in a 36–22 victory. He made his Premiership debut against

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

on 6 February 1999 and went on to make 28 appearances for the club in the competition, scoring six tries. Thirlby left Saracens to join

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the c ...

in May 2000. He played 36 times for Bath in the Premiership scoring eight tries, the highlight being the hat-trick of tries he scored against

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

on 14 April 2001, before joining

in February 2003. He helped the club secure promotion from

National Division One The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

back into the Premiership before returning to

and Penzance & Newlyn for the 2003–2004 season. After two seasons with Penzance & Newlyn, Thirlby returned to the Premiership by signing a two-year contract with

. After just ten Premiership appearances and a solitary try, Thirlby joined

on loan in January 2007, agreeing a two-year contract with the club in March 2007.

International

Thirlby was a regular member of the

team. He represented the team in both the RWC Sevens 2001 and RWC Sevens 2005, the only England player to do so, and was a member of Joe Lydon's twelve-man squad for the

2002 Commonwealth Games The 2002 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XVII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Manchester 2002 were held in Manchester, England, from 25 July to 4 August, 2002. The 2002 Games were to be hosted in the United Kingdom to coin ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Although the team returned without medals, they did win the Sevens Plate in the tournament. He made 35 appearances in the

IRB Sevens World Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...

, at the time the third-highest total by an England player, which has since been surpassed several times. Thirlby received a call up for

's 2000 tour of South Africa, and although he did not appear in the test side, he played in the three tour matches, scoring a try in the 36–27 victory over Gauteng Falcons.

Personal life

Thirlby is married to

Jess Garland Jess Thirlby (born 15 November 1979), previously known as Jess Garland, is a former England netball international and the current head coach of the England national netball team. As a player, she was a member of the Team Bath squad that won t ...

, a former England netball international. In 2019 she was appointed head coach of the

England national netball team The England national women's netball team, also known as the ''Vitality Roses'', represent England in international netball competition. England are coached by Jess Thirlby, and are currently captained by Natalie Metcalf. As of 1 July 2020, th ...

. Like her future husband, Garland also represented

England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games England at the 2002 Commonwealth Games was represented by the Commonwealth Games Council for England (CGCE). England joined the Commonwealth of Nations as part of the United Kingdom in 1931. The team that attended the games in Manchester was th ...

. They have two children. Thirlby also has a child from a previous relationship. His father-in-law was

Chris Garland Christopher Garland (born 24 April 1949) is an English former footballer who played in all four divisions of the Football League. He was capped once by England at under-23 level. A forward, he began his professional career with local club Bri ...

, a professional footballer.

References

External links

England Sevens Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thirlby, Rob 1979 births Living people Bath Rugby players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for England Cornish Pirates players Cornwall RFU players England international rugby sevens players English rugby sevens players English rugby union players Gloucester Rugby players Moseley Rugby Football Club players Rotherham Titans players Rugby sevens players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Redruth Rugby union wings Saracens F.C. players