Andrew Blades
Encyclopedia
Andrew Thomas Blades, was an rugby union
player for Australia
from 1996 to 1999. His last game for Australia was their victory over France in final of the 1999 Rugby World Cup
. After retiring from playing he became a coach, leading the Newcastle Falcons
for two years before becoming the forwards coach for the Wallabies.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player for Australia
Australia national rugby union team
The Australian national rugby union team is the representative side of Australia in rugby union. The national team is nicknamed the Wallabies and competes annually with New Zealand and South Africa in the Tri-Nations Series, in which they also contest the Bledisloe Cup with New Zealand and the...
from 1996 to 1999. His last game for Australia was their victory over France in final of the 1999 Rugby World Cup
1999 Rugby World Cup
The 1999 Rugby World Cup was the fourth Rugby World Cup, and the first to be held in rugby union's professional era. The principal host nation was Wales, although the majority of matches were played outside the country, shared between England, France, Scotland and Ireland...
. After retiring from playing he became a coach, leading the Newcastle Falcons
Newcastle Falcons
The Newcastle Falcons is an English rugby union team currently playing in the Aviva Premiership. The club was established in 1877 and played under the name of Gosforth Football Club until 1990. The name was then changed to Newcastle Gosforth and the club began to play at Kingston Park stadium in...
for two years before becoming the forwards coach for the Wallabies.