Gareth Lloyd Rees (born 30 June 1967) is a Canadian 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 it ...

footballer who played at

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– ...

and full back positions. Rees played for several British club sides, including Wasps and Harlequins. He won 55 caps for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, captaining them on 23 occasions and scoring 487 test points. In October 2011, Rees received arguably his greatest honour with induction to the

IRB Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

. He and fellow 2011 inductee Brian Lima of

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); ...

are the first members of the IRB Hall from nations outside of the traditional top tier of the sport.

Rugby career

Rees was born in Duncan, British Columbia, to Alan Rees who had emigrated to Canada from Wales, and was himself a former rugby union footballer having represented Cross Keys,

Maesteg Maesteg is a town and community (Wales), community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English ...

and

London Welsh London Welsh Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Cymry Llundain) was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seaso ...

. Rees was educated at

St. Michaels University School St. Michaels University School (abbreviated SMUS) is an independent day and boarding school in the municipality of Saanich, the largest and most populous municipality in the Capital Regional District and on Vancouver Island. Previous headmasters i ...

in Victoria and later at Harrow School in

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 ...

. When studying at Harrow, he was selected to the Wasps starting XV in what was then the

John Player Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English club ...

final in 1986. He played club rugby with

Castaways A castaway is a person cast adrift or ashore. Castaway or Cast Away may also refer to: Literature * "The Castaways" (short story), P.G. Wodehouse * ''Castaway'' (book), a 1984 memoir by Lucy Irvine *''The Castaway'', Hallie Erminie Rives's 1904 ...

, Wasps,

Mérignac Mérignac may refer to : ;Places * Mérignac, Charente, a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Charente-Maritime, a commune in the Charente-Maritime department in southwestern France * Mérignac, Gironde, a commun ...

, Newport,

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, Harlequins, and 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 ...

. Whilst at Wasps he helped them win the

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

in 1999, 13 years after his last appearance in the final, scoring two conversions and four penalties as they defeated

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 ...

. Rees played in all of the first four

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 ...

tournaments, the

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

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 ...

and 1999. He retired after the 1999 finals becoming the only player to play at the first four Rugby World Cups. In the 1995 World Cup Rees together with James Dalton and

Rod Snow Rod Snow is a Canadian former professional rugby union prop. Snow began his senior club rugby with the Newfoundland amateur club team Dogs RFC. He went on to play professionally in South Africa for Eastern Province in 1995, before joining Ne ...

were sent off for fighting in a Canada vs South Africa match that came to be known as the Battle of Boet Erasmus. All three players received a 30-day suspension. Rees did not regret coming to the aid of his team mates, and said after the incident, "We're a very tight team. The guys love each other." He was inducted in the British Columbia Rugby Hall of Fame. In 2011 he was inducted in the World Rugby Hall of Fame as the first and only Canadian. In 2014 he was inducted in the Canada Sports Hall of Fame as the first and only rugby player. Rees donated one of his rugby boots to be bronzed and used as a trophy to be competed for annually by St. Michaels and

Oak Bay High School École Secondaire Oak Bay High School is a high school in the Greater Victoria School District and is located in Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada. The enrollment is approximately 1,400 students attending in grades 9 to 12 in both regular and Fren ...

References

External links

Wasps profile

Planet-Rugby
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Gareth 1967 births Living people World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Sportspeople from British Columbia Canadian rugby union players Oxford University RFC players Newport RFC players Barbarian F.C. players People from Duncan, British Columbia Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union fullbacks Canadian people of Welsh descent People educated at Harrow School Canada international rugby union players Canadian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Wales Expatriate rugby union players in England Canadian expatriate sportspeople in England Wasps RFC players Harlequin F.C. players