Shane Paul Howarth (born 8 July 1968) is a former 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 who gained four caps and scored 54 points for the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...
before later switching allegiance 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 ...
, attaining 19 Welsh caps.
An outside-half or full-back, he was a prolific
goal
A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines.
A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...
-kicker and a fast elusive runner. He scored 23 points for Wales including a try in the 32–31 victory over England in 1999 played at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
as the
Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...
was under construction in
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 ...
.
Background
Howarth was born in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, New Zealand. He was educated at
St Peter's College, Auckland
St Peter's College ( mi, Te Kura Teitei o Hāto Petera) is a Catholic church, Catholic secondary school single-sex education, for boys in the Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice tradition, and dedicated to St Peter. it is located in the Auckland CBD ...
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. He made his All Black debut against
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
in 1994 and played in three tests in the series.
In 1996 he switched to
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
, signing with the
North Queensland Cowboys
The North Queensland Cowboys is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Townsville, the largest town in North Queensland. They compete in Australia's premier rugby league competition, the National Rugby League (NRL).
Sinc ...
in the
Australian Rugby League
The Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL), formerly the Australian Rugby Football League known as the Australian Rugby League is an Australian rugby league football competition operator. It was founded in 1986 as the Australian Rugby Footbal ...
competition. He played twelve games for the club and scored forty nine points, including three field goals.
However he was not re-signed by the club and instead returned to rugby union, playing three games for the
Auckland Blues
The Blues (known as the Auckland Blues from 1996 to 2000) is a New Zealand professional rugby union team based in Auckland, who play in the Super Rugby competition. Like New Zealand's four other Super Rugby teams, the Blues were established by ...
during the 1997 Super 12 season.
He moved to England to play for Sale at outside-half. There was then a tug-of-war between various nations for him to play for them, but he chose Wales, after being offered the chance to play for Newport. Howarth moved to
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 ...
in 1999 and played for the club until 2003, scoring 1,035 points and helping the Black & Ambers win the WRU Principality Cup.
Grannygate scandal
During the
2000 Six Nations Championship
The 2000 Six Nations Championship was the first series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, following the addition of Italy to the Five Nations. It was the 106th season of the championship overall.
The title was won by England. England won ...
, a number of British newspapers revealed that Howarth (along with fellow player
Brett Sinkinson
Brett David Sinkinson (born 30 December 1971) Scrum.com is a
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 ...
and in 2001 announced he intended to qualify for Wales under residency laws (which would have made him elligable again on 14 May 2002). However, by this time the IRB had changed the rules so that players could only represent one country and Howarth was considered a New Zealand player only. During a 2022 interview with Sky Sport New Zealand, Howarth reiterated his belief that he was Welsh qualified, noting that he chose to represent Wales over my lucrative offers: "I can tell you now if I went to England, financially I'd have been better off. I believed I was Welsh, I still believe I'm Welsh and I was proud to put the jersey on."
Coaching
Howarth commenced a coaching in Auckland. He was assistant coach of the Pacific Islanders, New Zealand in 2004 and 2005. Howarth was assistant coach for the Auckland NPC team from 2006 until 2010 under Pat Lam. Auckland claimed four championships in 10 years. Howarth's tenure was ended after Auckland slumped to seventh in 2010.
In June 2012 he was appointed as backs coach to
London Wasps
Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...
. From September 2013 until late 2014, Howarth was backs coach for 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 ...