Stuart Barnes
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Date of birth | 22 November 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 86 kg (13 st 8 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Bassaleg School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Occupation(s) | Sports Commentator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Stuart Barnes (born 22 November 1962 in Grays, Essex)[2] is a former English rugby union footballer, and now rugby commentator for Sky Sports. Barnes played fly-half for Newport RFC, Bristol, Bath; and represented England at international level.
Biography
Although born in Essex, he was to captain Wales Schools.[3]
Barnes studied at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, where 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]
Club career
While at University, Barnes played club rugby for Newport RFC. He matriculated in 1981.[6]
Barnes later played for Bristol, including in the 1984 RFU final against Bath Rugby. After being on the losing side for Bristol in that final, he was to join 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]
International career
Barnes made his England debut against Australia in November 1984. He gained ten caps for England and played his last international match in 1993 against Ireland.[2]
Barnes played for the Barbarians against Wales in October 1990, converting three tries in the Barbarians victory.[9]
Life after playing
Barnes' last game was the Bath versus Leicester Pilkington Cup Final on 7 May 1994, which Bath won 21–9. He resigned from the Bristol and West building society shortly afterwards. Barnes became a freelance writer and reporter for the Telegraph, and wrote his autobiography Smelling of Roses.[8]
He later became involved in broadcasting, firstly with the BBC,[3] and then joined Sky Sports in 1994.[4]
Personal life
He was nicknamed The Bath Barrel.[10]
References
- ↑ http://www.lionsrugby.com/history/players.php?player=15355&includeref=dynamic
- 1 2 "Stuart Barnes: England". Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- 1 2 "Stuart Barnes". ESPN Scrum. ESPN. Retrieved 28 December 2013.
- 1 2 "Varsity magazine 25 November 2005 (see page 19)" (PDF). Retrieved 14 April 2016.
- ↑ Glover, Tim (2004-11-07). "Stuart Barnes: The voice of rugby says 'I've watched every minute of every match'". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2015-04-25.
- ↑ "Notable Alumni – St Edmund Hall". www.seh.ox.ac.uk.
- ↑ "The Eighties". History. Bath Rugby Official Site. Archived from the original on 2011-10-21. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
- 1 2 "BathRugbyEre.co.uk – ERE Met Stuart Barnes In January 1994". Sportnetwork.net. 1 January 2006. Retrieved 2011-09-04.
- ↑ "Wales v Barbarians: Full record". BBC. 12 July 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ↑ "BathRugbyEre.co.uk – Leinster Snatch Victory From Bath". Sportnetwork.net. 9 January 2005. Retrieved 2011-09-04.