Andrew Charles Thomas Gomarsall

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born 24 July 1974, in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

) is a 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 it ...

player who played at scrum-half for

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 ...

and

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 ...

. He previously played 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 in ...

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

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. ...

. Until May 2006 he was contracted to

Worcester Warriors Worcester Warriors Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union club, based in Worcester, England, that is currently in administration and which has been suspended and will be relegated from Premiership Rugby, the top division of domestic ...

for three seasons from 2005, but was released after one year of a three-year contract – an action which is still subject to potential legal action by Gomarsall. He was released by Harlequins F.C in 2009 and joined Leeds Carnegie for the 2009–2010 season to continue Guinness Premiership rugby.

Biography

He was a member of

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 ...

’ 1999

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 ...

winning side, eventually transferring to

as a captain, before joining

. He was a Gloucester Rugby favourite, and participated in the 2003

. He also started in the 2002 Zurich Championship Final (the year before winning the play-offs constituted winning the English title) in which Gloucester defeated

Bristol Shoguns Bristol Bears (officially Bristol Rugby Club or Bristol Rugby) are a professional rugby union club based in Bristol, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded as Bristol Football Club in 18 ...

. Gomarsall started all three of England's 2004 Autumn internationals at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

and was vice captain in the England XV against 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 les ...

in May as well as the

Churchill Cup The Churchill Cup was an annual rugby union tournament, held in June, contested by representative men's (and formerly women's) teams from Canada, England, the United States, and other invited teams (originally one and later three) from a wide arr ...

tour. However, injury led to his replacement at both Gloucester Rugby and England, and so to prolong his career he signed a three-year deal with

in June 2005. However, his injury worries returned to plague him, and he was released along with nine other players by Worcester in May 2006, two months short of the end of the season. On 25 September 2006 Gomarsall signed a one year "pay-as-you-play" deal with Harlequins: ''""It was shocking what happened to me and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else. I love rugby so much and have really missed it. I'm very grateful to Quins for giving me this opportunity."''. Gomarsall performed well for Harlequins and was selected for the England squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It was his kick down the touchline that enabled

Josh Lewsey Owen Joshua Lewsey MBE (born 30 November 1976) is an English former rugby union player who represented England and the British and Irish Lions. Lewsey is a former British Army Officer. Background and early life Lewsey was born in Bromley, L ...

to score 5 points – the eventual winning margin for England that sent them into the final against South Africa on 20 October 2007. In 2008, Gomarsall started the first two Six Nations games before being dropped for the third against France.BBC Sport Andy Gomarsall column
20 February 2008 In 2015 Gomarsall played for Old Actonians RFC Vets in a dramatic thrashing of Local Rivals Ealing Vets. He was a co-commentator for ITV's coverage of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Gomarsall is now building his father's business, Network 2 Supplies Ltd. as a director.

References

External links

Harlequins profile

England Profile

Wasps profile

Profile at scrum.com

Andy Gomarsall photo by sportingheroes.net

Andy Gomarsall column
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gomarsall, Andy 1974 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union scrum-halves Wasps RFC players Bath Rugby players Bedford Blues players Gloucester Rugby players Worcester Warriors players Harlequin F.C. players Barbarian F.C. players People educated at Bedford School Members of the Order of the British Empire England international rugby union players Rugby union players from Durham, England Leeds Tykes players