Gareth Baber (born 23 May 1972) is a Welsh rugby player and coach. He is best known for coaching and leading the Fiji sevens team to win their second gold medal in rugby sevens at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He coached Fiji to their fourth World Sevens Series title. He has won the most tournaments in the world series as coach for the Fiji Islands.
 Baber in 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Gareth Colin Baber | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 23 May 1972 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 13.5 st (189 lb; 86 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| University | Swansea University Oxford University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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During his playing career Baber earned a Blue for Oxford University's rugby team. He also featured at scrum-half for Pontypridd RFC, and featured prominently in Pontypridd's European Shield victory over London Irish in 2001 where he appeared on the wing.
In July 2023, Baber became a full-time member of staff at Cardiff Metropolitan University as the Director of Rugby System.
Coaching
editBaber was assistant coach with the Wales national under-20 team. Baber was also academy skills coach at Welsh regional side Cardiff Blues.[1] In July 2011, Baber and Justin Burnell were appointed Head Coaches of the Cardiff Blues following the resignation of Dai Young.[2]
In November 2013, Baber became head of Hong Kong men's rugby sevens and directed the senior men's, women's and youth programmes at elite level.[3] In October 2016, he signed a four-year contract with Fiji Rugby Union to coach the Fiji national rugby sevens team.[4] Since becoming the Fiji sevens team head coach, he has won eleven tournaments with them, beating the previous record set by Ben Ryan of nine.[citation needed] He also guided Fiji in winning the 2018-19 World Rugby Sevens Series after close a battle for points with the United States throughout the series. He is now an Olympic winner after winning gold in rugby sevens at the Tokyo 2020 Games.[5][6]
References
edit- ^ Cardiff Blues : Academy Coaches Archived 14 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Baber and Burnell appointed at Cardiff Blues
- ^ "HK greet new sevens coaches". The Standard. 5 November 2013. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013.
- ^ Fiji appoint Baber as new men's sevens head coach
- ^ "Gareth Baber to leave role as Fiji 7s coach". RNZ. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ^ Smith, Sam (16 October 2021). "Edinburgh appoint Olympic gold winning coach Gareth Baber". www.rugbypass.com. Retrieved 21 August 2022.