Gareth Steenson (born 5 April 1984) is an Irish 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. He played as a

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– ...

Playing career

Early years

Steenson, who is from Ulster, did not get opportunities with his home province with

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Ulster Branch, which is one of ...

in part because Ireland international David Humphreys was the starting flyhalf. Steenson left Ireland to play for the Rotherham Titans.

Exeter

Steenson played a massive part in the final leg of the 2009–10 Championship final against

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, scoring 24 points and helping

Exeter Chiefs Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...

win 29–10 (38–16 including the first leg). Steenson burst into the scene in England at his previous club,

Cornish Pirates The Cornish Pirates ( kw, An Vorladron Gernewek) are a professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn ...

, scoring 264 points in his first season (30 games). Steenson narrowly missed out on the golden boot by one point to Premiership rival Freddie Burns at the 2012–13 Premiership awards. He won the golden boot in the 2016 Premiership awards. Steenson also helped

reach the 2016

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition. The Premiership has consisted of thirteen clubs since 2021, and is the ...

final. The following year he started the final and scored two conversions and three penalties, including the winning points, as Exeter Chiefs defeated

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. ...

to be crowned champions of the 2016-17 English Premiership.

International

Steenson played for the Ireland under-19 team and the under-21 team.

Retirement

Steenson joined Plymouth Albion's coaching team ahead of the 2019–20 season as an assistant coach, focusing on their attack. The role initially saw him remain an Exeter player, but he retired from playing at the conclusion of the 2019–20 season. He was nominated for the Freedom of the City of Exeter, and his nomination was unanimously approved by the

Exeter City Council Exeter City Council is the council and local government of the city of Exeter, Devon. History Proposed unitary authority status The government proposed that the city should become an independent unitary authority within Devon, much like neighb ...

on 15 December 2020. The Honour was formally presented to him in a ceremony at the

Exeter Guildhall Exeter Guildhall on the High Street of Exeter, Devon, England has been the centre of civic government for the city for at least 600 years. Much of the fabric of the building is medieval, though the elaborate frontage was added in the 1590s ...

on 7 October 2021. His boots are currently on display in Exeter and are regarded as the

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

of the South Coast.

Honours

Exeter Chiefs

RFU Championship The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

**Winner (1): ( 2009–10) *

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

**Winner (2): ( 2016–17, 2019–20) * European Rugby Champions Cup **Winner (1): ( 2019–20)

Outside rugby

, Steenson is planning to open an

Irish bar The Bar of Ireland ( ga, Barra na hÉireann) is the professional association of barristers for Ireland, with over 2,000 members. It is based in the Law Library, with premises in Dublin and Cork. It is governed by the General Council of the Ba ...

named The Stand-Off in the centre of Exeter with fellow rugby footballer Carl Rimmer.

References

External links

Exeter Player Profile
*
Premiership Rugby Profile
1984 births Living people People educated at The Royal School, Armagh People from Dungannon Irish rugby union players Dungannon RFC players Rotherham Titans players Cornish Pirates players Exeter Chiefs players Irish expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Rugby union fly-halves {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub