Steve Bates (born 4 March 1963) is a rugby coach and retired from former

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. He played at scrum-half for

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 ...

and was capped once for the

England national rugby union team The England national rugby union team represents England in men's international rugby union. They compete in the annual Six Nations Championship with France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. England have won the championship on 29 occasion ...

. He twice worked as a coach at

Newcastle Falcons Newcastle Falcons is a rugby union team that play in Premiership Rugby, England's highest division of rugby union. The club was established in 1877 as the Gosforth Football Club. Around 1882 the club merged with the Northumberland Football Cl ...

, 1995–2003 and 2007–2010.

Early life

Steven Michael Bates was born on 4 March 1963 in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

, Wales. During his days as a player, in the amateur era, Bates was a schoolteacher at

Radley College Radley College, formally St Peter's College, Radley, is a public school (independent boarding school for boys) near Radley, Oxfordshire, England, which was founded in 1847. The school covers including playing fields, a golf course, a lake, and ...

and

Lord Wandsworth College Lord Wandsworth College (LWC) is a co-educational independent school in Long Sutton, Hampshire, England, for day and boarding pupils between the ages of 11–18, which occupies a 1,200 acre campus and is known for its charitable foundation. It ...

in Hampshire.

Rugby career

He played at scrum-half for London Wasps, where he formed a successful partnership with

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16– ...

Rob Andrew. He was capped once for England, against in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

in 1989, and was on England's tour of South Africa in 1994. In 1995, when Andrew left Wasps to become Director of Rugby at

, Bates followed him, becoming the Falcons' head coach. Bates was instrumental in attracting the fly-half

Jonny Wilkinson Jonathan Peter Wilkinson, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 25 May 1979) is an English former rugby union player. A Fly-half (rugby union), fly-half, he played for Newcastle Falcons and RC Toulonnais, Toulon and represente ...

to Newcastle in the summer of 1997, with Wilkinson having previously been a pupil at Lord Wandsworth College where Bates taught. Under Bates, Newcastle were promoted to the Premiership at the end of the 1996–97 season and went on to top the league at the first attempt, in 1997–98; they reached the final of the Tetley's Bitter Cup in 1999 and won the trophy (by then known as the

Powergen Cup The RFU Knockout Cup was an English rugby union competition open to any member of the Rugby Football Union. First contested in 1971, it was the premier competition in English club rugby before the establishment of the English league structure in 1 ...

in 2001. Bates left Newcastle in March 2003 In 2004 Bates was appointed as head coach of Border Reivers, taking over from New Zealander Tony Gilbert, who was returning home. Bates successfully guided Borders back into the Heineken Cup in 2006–07 and, during his time with the club, also coached Scotland A to the final of the 2006 Churchill Cup, which they lost to the New Zealand Māori, after wins against

England Saxons England A is England's men's second national rugby union team. The team has previously been known by a number of names, such as England B, Emerging England and, most recently, England Saxons. England A play a key role in the development of emer ...

and . When the Scottish Rugby Union announced that Border Reivers were to be disbanded at the end of the 2006–07 season, Bates was headhunted by Newcastle Falcons to become their Coaching and Technical Director and rejoined the club in June 2007. Bates was sacked by the Falcons in May 2010. In January 2008, the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

announced the appointment of Bates as head coach of

on a part-time basis. In 2011 Bates was appointed the director of sport at

Fettes College Fettes College () is a co-educational independent boarding and day school in Edinburgh, Scotland, with over two-thirds of its pupils in residence on campus. The school was originally a boarding school for boys only and became co-ed in 1983. In ...

in Edinburgh. Bates left to become head coach of England Rugby Union Under 20s in March 2017.

References

External links

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at Wasps {{DEFAULTSORT:Bates, Steve 1963 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Rugby union players from Merthyr Tydfil Rugby union scrum-halves Welsh rugby union players