Gareth Owen Llewellyn (born 27 February 1969), is a Welsh 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 gained a record 92 caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

as a

lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

. His record for Wales caps was surpassed by Gareth Thomas in May 2007. His brother,

Glyn Llewellyn Glyn means "Valley" in Welsh and may refer to: *Glyn (name), including a list of people with the name *Baron Glyn, a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom *Glyn baronets, created for members of the Glyn family *Glyn Ceiriog, a former slate ...

, also played international rugby union for Wales. His son, Max Llewellyn, plays for Cardiff Rugby.

Rugby career

Llewellyn started his playing career at

Llanharan RFC Llanharan Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Llanharan, South Wales. Llanharan RFC was formally established in 1891-92 when Llanharan was little more than an agricultural hamlet. The earliest photograph on the clubhouse wall is date ...

and then moved on to play first class rugby at Neath, Harlequins, Ospreys and

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

, and signed for

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 ...

at the beginning of the 2005–06 season. After excelling in the line-out for Neath in their match against the touring New Zealand All Blacks on 25 October 1989, he made his debut for Wales ten days later against the same opposition and went on to win a total of 92 caps, breaking the record of 87 held by Neil Jenkins in the test against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on 12 June 2004. He captained Wales on 7 occasions and appeared in three

Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

s –

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

and 2003. He played his last match for Wales in November 2004 against New Zealand. Such was his longevity that he played international rugby in three different decades and under eight different coaches. Following the 2004–05 season, he announced his retirement from international rugby. He was unlucky not to be selected for the Lions squad in 1993 to tour New Zealand. From the beginning of the 2008–09 season, Llewellyn combined playing with a coaching role at Welsh First Division club

Tonmawr Tonmawr is a village in Neath Port Talbot county borough, south Wales. It is part of the community of Pelenna and is located around four miles east of Neath. The village is home to a rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby ...

.Llewellyn takes on Tonmawr task
BBC Sport, 4 August 2008 Since the 2009–10 season he is head coach at South West One West side Thornbury RFC working alongside Bristol's

Darren Crompton Darren Crompton (born 12 September 1972) is a retired professional rugby union player. He played for Richmond, Bath, Cardiff Blues, Bristol, Weston and has also represented England at many levels. Professional career Crompton began his profes ...

and Rob Higgitt formerly of Bristol Rugby, the

Scarlets The Scarlets () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup (which ...

and Worcester RFC.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Llewellyn, Gareth 1969 births Living people Rugby union players from Cardiff Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Rugby union locks Harlequin F.C. players Bristol Bears players Wales rugby union captains Neath RFC players Llanharan RFC players Ospreys (rugby union) players RC Narbonne players