Scott Quinnell

Scott Quinnell

Personal information
Full name	Leon Scott Quinnell
Date of birth	August 20, 1972 (1972-08-20)
Place of birth	Morriston, Swansea, Wales
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	118 kg (18 st 8 lb)
School(s) attended	Graig Comprehensive School
Relatives	Derek Quinnell (father) Craig Quinnell (brother) Gavin Quinnell (brother) Barry John (uncle)
Club information
Position(s)	Prop, Second-row / No. 8
Current club	Retired
Youth clubs
Years	Club
	3
Senior clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (points)
1990 ‐ 94 1994 ‐ 96 1996 ‐ 98 1998 ‐ 05	Llanelli RFC Wigan Richmond Llanelli Scarlets	146 (160) 39 (64) 59 (60)
Representative teams
1993 ‐ 02 1993 ‐ 01	Wales RU British and Irish Lions Great Britain Wales RL	52 (55) 3 (5)
* Professional club appearances and points counted for domestic first grade only.

Scott Quinnell (born 20 August 1972 in Morriston, Swansea) is a former Welsh international rugby league and rugby union player, who was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, the Llanelli Scarlets and the Lions. He scored 11 tries for Wales and captained his country on 7 occasions in rugby union.

Biography

Scott is the son of former Welsh international Derek Quinnell. His next younger brother Craig Quinnell plays professional rugby union, as did another brother, Gavin Quinnell, before losing the sight in one eye after an incident in a 2010 rugby match. The brothers are also nephews of legendary Welsh international Barry John.

Early career

Quinnell first joined the Llanelli juniors aged 8 and made his debut as an 18-year-old back in 1990 against Penygroes. He went on to represent Llanelli on 146 occasions, scoring 69 tries in the process.

Quinnell first played for Wales as a blindside flanker in a 26-24 defeat against Canada in 1993. He was part of the 1994 Five nations winning Welsh team and was man of the match as Number 8 in Wales' 24-15 victory over France that year with a try and a breakaway to set up another try.

Rugby league

He switched to rugby league in 1994, joining Wigan. He stayed with Wigan for two years during this time he won the league and the Regal Trophy. He also represented Wales in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup, he says that the toughest game of rugby he ever played was the quarter final against Western Samoa. Wales went out to England 25-10 in the semi-finals.

Return to Union

He returned to rugby union with Richmond in 1996. He was selected for the 1997 Lions tour of South Africa but a double hernia operation forced him to leave the tour.

He came back to his beloved Stradey Park in 1998. During the 1998-99 season he did no conditioning work at all as he had rheumatoid arthritis in his left knee. For seven years he played through the pain barrier with the condition that seemed likely to end his career.

He was part of a Welsh team that won eight straight games before the 1999 World Cup and then reached the World Cup quarter-finals where they went out 24-9 to the eventual winners Australia. He captained Wales for the first time in a 23-13 defeat by South Africa at the Millennium Stadium. Quinnell played his final game for Wales as a replacement in a 32-21 win over Canada in 2002 after winning 52 caps.

He was again selected for the 2001 Lions tour to Australia where he played in all three tests, and scored a crucial try in the first test in Brisbane.

Since the Welsh domestic game went regional in 2003, he has appeared 59 times for the Scarlets, scoring 32 tries. He was part of the Llanelli Scarlets team that won the Celtic League title in 2004.

Quinnell announced his retirement from rugby union at the end of the 2004/2005 season in order to concentrate on his role as coach of the Llanelli RFC Welsh Premier Division team. A hand injury suffered in March 2005 forced him to end his career a few weeks prematurely. He played his final game in a testimonial match with fellow retiree Rob Howley at Millennium Stadium. Quinnell's Britain & Ireland selection lost 57-67 to Howley's Rest of the World side.

After retirement

Quinnell currently regularly appears as a commentator and pundit on a number of Sky Sports televised rugby matches.

Personal life

Quinnell is married to Nicola, and the couple have three children. Having lived all of his life in Llanelli, in early 2009 in light of his increased media commitments, the family moved to Kenilworth, Warwickshire, although they have since moved back to South Wales to a smallholding near Usk.

Quinnell was born dyslexic, but was not diagnosed until his early 30's, when his lack of ability to read and write was correctly diagnosed. Having undertaken a series of therapies to resolve the condition, Quinnell is now a popular speaker on the matter. He has represented the Welsh Dyslexia Project, and also completed an autobiography as part of the Accent Press Quick Reads series.

In August 2007 Quinnell was treated for serious injuries after slipping whilst entering a shower and falling through a glass shower door at his then home near Llanelli. He was taken to West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen with a severed right triceps and glass embedded in his right arm, hand and knee.

External links

• Wales profile
• Scott Quinnell Wigan Career Page on the Wigan RL Fansite.