Stuart Barnes

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Stuart Barnes
Stuart Barnes.JPG
Barnes in 2006
Born (1962-11-22) 22 November 1962 (age 63)
Grays, Essex, England
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Weight86 kg (13 st 8 lb) [1]
School Bassaleg School
University St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford
Occupation Sports Commentator
Rugby union career
Position Fly-half
Amateur team(s)
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1980–1983 Newport RFC
1983–1985 Bristol
1985–1994 Bath
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1984–1993 England 10 (34)
1993 British Lions 0 (0)

Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962) [2] is an English rugby union journalist and commentator, and former player. He is a commentator for Sky Sports and writes for The Times .

Contents

Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol and Bath, and represented England and the British Lions.

Early life

Born in Grays, Essex, he played schoolboy international rugby for the Wales under-18 national team. [3]

Barnes studied at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, matriculating in 1981. He won three rugby Blues; he played for Oxford against Cambridge University's Rob Andrew in the Varsity match. [4] He graduated from Oxford with a third-class honours degree in history. [5]

Rugby career

While at university, Barnes played club rugby for Newport RFC. [6] He later played for Bristol, including in the 1984 RFU final against Bath. After being on the losing side for Bristol in that match, he joined Bath. [7]

He arrived at Bath aged 22: "disaffected with England and, with my volatile character, I could easily have drifted out of the game altogether. At the time the big joke was that I'd had more clubs than Jack Nicklaus – Newport, Bristol and Bath by 22 and people doubted my character, they thought of me as being very fickle and at Bath I found what I wanted – a rugby home.". [8]

He was nicknamed The Bath Barrel. [9]

Barnes played for the Barbarians against Wales in October 1990, converting three tries in the Barbarians' victory. [10]

Barnes' last game was Pilkington Cup Final against Leicester on 7 May 1994, which Bath won 21–9.

International

Barnes made his England debut against Australia in November 1984. He gained 10 caps for England and played his last international match in 1993 against Ireland. [2]

He was selected for the British Lions' 1993 tour to New Zealand, but was not picked for any of the international matches.

Media career

After retiring, Barnes resigned from his job at the Bristol and West building society. He became a freelance writer and reporter for The Daily Telegraph , and wrote his autobiography Smelling of Roses. [8]

He later began working in broadcasting, first with the BBC, [3] and then joined Sky Sports in 1994. [4]

References

  1. ↑ "History – the History of the British & Irish Lions".
  2. 1 2 "Stuart Barnes: England". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Stuart Barnes". ESPN Scrum. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Varsity magazine 25 November 2005 (see page 19)" (PDF). Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Glover, Tim (7 November 2004). "Stuart Barnes: The voice of rugby says 'I've watched every minute of every match'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Notable Alumni – St Edmund Hall". seh.ox.ac.uk.
  7. ↑ "The Eighties". History. Bath Rugby Official Site. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  8. 1 2 "BathRugbyEre.co.uk – ERE Met Stuart Barnes In January 1994". Sportnetwork.net. 1 January 2006. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  9. ↑ "BathRugbyEre.co.uk – Leinster Snatch Victory From Bath". Sportnetwork.net. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  10. ↑ "Wales v Barbarians: Full record". BBC. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
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