Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959 in Blaina) was the coach of the Welsh national rugby union team from 2004 until February 2006. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in decreasing order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand... September 5 is the 248th day of the year (249th in leap years). ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Welsh rugby union team, as the highest level of Welsh rugby union, represent Wales at the national sport of rugby union. ... Image from a test-match between Ireland and the New Zealand All Blacks. ...

Ruddock played in the back row for Blaina, Tredegar and Swansea, making 119 appearances for Swansea and scoring 43 tries. He also played for Wales under-16s and Wales B, but his playing days were ended prematurely by an accident at work in 1985. Working as an electicity linesman he fell from a pole, suffering serious injuries including three compressed vertebrae and a fractured skull. Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. ...

He began his career as a coach at Blaina, and later coached Cross Keys and had a spell in Ireland with Bective Rangers. As coach of Swansea, he recorded a 21-6 win over the touring Australians in 1992 and won Welsh league titles in 1992 and 1994 and the Welsh Cup in 1995. In 1997 he again moved to Ireland as director of coaching at Leinster. The Irish Rugby Football Union Leinster Branch (also known as Leinster Rugby) is one of four branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish province of Leinster. ...

Returning to Wales in 2000 he coached Ebbw Vale and Wales 'A' then coached Newport Gwent Dragons with considerable success. He was given control of the Wales team to face Romania in the run up to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, a match which Wales won 54-8 - their first win in 11 games. The Newport Gwent Dragons (Welsh: Dreigiau Gwent Casnewydd) are a Rugby Union team from Wales, playing in the Celtic League and European Rugby Cup/European Rugby Shield. ... (Redirected from 2003 Rugby World Cup) The 2003 Rugby Union World Cup was the fifth world cup in rugby history. ...

In 2004, Steve Hansen left his post as coach of the Welsh national side to return to New Zealand, and Mike Ruddock was appointed to the job. In his first season, Wales completed the Grand Slam in the Six Nations Championship for the first time since 1978. He received the OBE in the 2006 New Years Honours List. A Grand Slam can completed in two ways in rugby union. ... History The Five Nations Championship, with its predecessor, the Home Championship, was the premier international rugby union tournament in the Northern hemisphere. ...

On February 14th 2006 it was announced that Ruddock was to resign as the coach of the Welsh national side, it was believed that family reasons were the main reason for Ruddock's resigination.

External links

• http://www.wru.co.uk/49_3181.php

As of febuary 14th 2006 he is no longer in charge