Joe El-Abd (born 23 February 1980) is a

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 is currently the head coach for

Oyonnax Oyonnax () is the second most populated commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Oyonnax lies in a valley of the Jura Mountains in the far north of Ain. It is near the Parc naturel régional du Ha ...

in the French

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

. El-Abd began playing rugby at Hove RFC and at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

, and after an unsuccessful spell with

Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the ...

, he joined

Caerphilly RFC Caerphilly Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team founded in 1887. Their home ground is Virginia Park in Caerphilly and their nickname is ''The Cheesemen''. Caerphilly RFC currently play in the WRU Division Two East Central and are a ...

and later

Bristol Rugby 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 ...

in 2003, where he has spent the best part of his career and become a regular fixture at open-side flanker. As of 2008 he has made over 100 appearances for Bristol and captained the side on several occasions, being named the club's regular captain at the start of the 2008/09 season. He moved to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

in the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

in 2009 playing there until 2012, when he moved to

. El-Abd has an English mother and an Egyptian father and is one of three brothers. His younger brother,

Adam El-Abd Adam Mohamad El-Abd ( ar, آدم العبد; born 11 September 1984) is a retired professional footballer who plays as a defender. El-Abd made over 500 first team appearances in his professional career and also played for the Egypt national t ...

, is a retired professional footballer who played most of his career for

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

References

External links

Bristol Rugby Player ProfileToulon RC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abd, Joe 1980 births Living people Alumni of the University of Bath Bath Rugby players Bristol Bears players English expatriate rugby union players English expatriate sportspeople in France English people of Egyptian descent English rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France RC Toulon players Rugby union players from Brighton Team Bath rugby union players Rugby union flankers