Birth name | Scott Baldwin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 12 July 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Bridgend, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 114 kg (251 lb; 17 st 13 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Scott Baldwin (born 12 July 1988) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former Welsh international rugby union player. He played as a hooker for the Ospreys, Harlequins and Worcester Warriors.
Bridgend-born Baldwin began his professional career with local team Bridgend Ravens, before signing his contract with the Ospreys in January 2009. [1] Baldwin made his Ospreys debut the same year. [2] In 2011, Baldwin spent six weeks on loan with Italian club ASR Milano. [3]
After ten years with the Ospreys, Baldwin joined Harlequins prior to the 2019–2020 season. [4]
He started in the Premiership final against Exeter on 26 June 2021 as Harlequins won the game 40–38 in the highest scoring Premiership final ever. [5]
Following his Premiership success, Baldwin joined Worcester Warriors ahead of the 2021–22 Premiership Rugby season. [6] Baldwin departed the club during the season, returning to the Ospreys having been released on compassionate grounds. [7]
Baldwin announced his retirement from professional rugby on 20 June 2023. [8]
Prior to an Ospreys rugby union match against Cheetahs in September 2017, Baldwin was bitten on the hand by a captive lion at Weltevrede Game Lodge near Bloemfontein, South Africa. [9] [10] Ospreys coach Steve Tandy described Baldwin's conduct as "pretty stupid", and added "I don't know what sort of wildlife show Scott has been watching where you can pat a lion on the head as if it's a kitten." [11] The injury resulted in Baldwin missing the fixture against the Cheetahs. [10]
In May 2013, Baldwin was selected in the Wales national rugby union team 32-man training squad for the summer 2013 tour to Japan. [12] He made his international debut in the 2nd test versus Japan on 15 June 2013, as a second-half replacement.
Baldwin had to wait until 2014 for his next cap, but featured in all four tests for Wales during the 2014 Autumn internationals. Baldwin started against South Africa, as Wales secured only their second win over the Springboks, their first in 15 years. [13] He maintained his spot in the Welsh squad for the 2015 Six Nations, impressing during the win over Ireland having completed 20 tackles during his time on the field. [14] Baldwin established himself as first choice hooker, starting the three final tests of the tournament. [13]
Baldwin was selected in the Wales squad for the 2015 Rugby World Cup, and started every match, scoring a try against Fiji in the pool stages. [15]
By the end of 2016, Baldwin found himself increasingly utilised off the bench, with Ken Owens taking the starting shirt. Baldwin featured as a substitute in every match during the 2017 Six Nations.
Baldwin came off the bench against Samoa on 23 June 2017. [16] He was not selected in the squad for the 2018 Six Nations, and upon signing for Harlequins in 2019, was no longer eligible to be selected for Wales due to the 60 cap rule. [17] [18]
On 24 January 2023 Baldwin earned a recall to the Welsh squad, his first selection in more than five years, having been called up to replace the injured Dewi Lake for the 2023 Six Nations. [19]
Try | Opponent | Location | Venue | Competition | Date | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Fiji | Cardiff, Wales | Millennium Stadium | 2015 Rugby World Cup | 1 October 2015 | Win |
In 2022, Baldwin was announced as the forwards coach for Bridgend Ravens, the club where he began his career more than a decade prior. [20]
On 20 June 2023, it was announced Baldwin would join Newcastle Falcons as defence coach. [8] He left Newcastle Falcons in June 2024. [21]
The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
Adam Rhys Jones is a Welsh former professional international rugby union player for Wales and the British & Irish Lions. He is currently scrum coach for Premiership Rugby club Harlequins
Kenneth James Owens is a former Welsh rugby union player who played as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Rees' departure for the Cardiff Blues in 2013. He also served as backup to Rees, among others, for Wales following his debut against Namibia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, he took over as Wales' first-choice hooker, and in January 2023, following almost a year out with a back injury, he was named as captain for the 2023 Six Nations Championship.
Rhys Webb is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a scrum-half. Born in Bridgend, he is a product of the Ospreys academy and played club rugby for Bridgend and Aberavon before breaking into the regional side in 2008. He played for the Ospreys for 10 years before moving to French club Toulon in 2018, but terminated his contract with them in 2020 and agreed a return to the Ospreys; however, he was unable to join the Ospreys immediately and signed for Bath for the remainder of the 2019–20 season before returning to the Ospreys.
Tom Prydie is a Welsh rugby union player. A fullback who can also play on the wing, Prydie is the youngest player ever to represent the Wales national team and the youngest player in the history of Europe's top rugby union club competition, the Heineken Cup.
Ashley Beck is a Wales international rugby union player. Beck currently played for Merthyr RFC, and has previously played for Worcester Warriors and the Ospreys. He has represented Wales and Wales U20. He is the current attack coach of Premiership Women's Rugby side Worcester Warriors Women.
Owen Williams is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for the Ospreys. He has represented Wales and Wales U20.
Luke Anthony Cowan-Dickie is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a hooker for Premiership Rugby club Sale Sharks and the England national team.
Kyle Norval Jonathan Sean Sinckler is an English professional rugby union player who plays as a prop for Top 14 club Toulon.
Tomas Francis is a Wales international rugby union player who plays at tight head prop for Ospreys.
Tom O'Flaherty is an English rugby union player who plays for Premiership Rugby Sale Sharks. His playing position is a Wing.
Dewi Lake is a Welsh rugby union player currently playing for United Rugby Championship side Ospreys and the Wales national side as a hooker. Lake made his international debut against Ireland in the 2022 Six Nations Championship.
Luke Morgan is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys as a wing. Born in Bridgend, Wales, he was a Wales under-20 and Wales Sevens international.
Cai Evans is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.