Gary Kingdom

Gary Kingdom
Date of birth (1982-11-02) 2 November 1982
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Full-Back, Centre, Wing
Professional / senior clubs
Years Club / team Caps (points)
2002-09
2008-09
2009-10
2010-		 Exeter Chiefs
Launceston
Plymouth Albion
Taunton Titans		 121
17
28
168		 304
42
5
1,280
correct as of 30 April 2016.

Gary Kingdom (born 2 November, 1982) is a English rugby union player who can play in a variety of positions most notably at Full-Back or Centre. He is currently playing for Taunton Titans in National League 2 South (tier 4 of the English rugby union league system) but has played higher level rugby for both Exeter Chiefs and Plymouth Albion as well as representing the Devon county rugby side.[1][2] Gary has become an excellent points kicker over his career and is (as of the end of the 2015-16 season), the fourth highest all-time points scorer in National League 2 South with over 1,200 points for Taunton.[3] As well as playing, Gary is also employed by the RFU as a community rugby coach for the South Devon region.[4]

Career

Gary grew up in South Devon, playing for his local rugby club, Kingsbridge, and attended Blundell's School in Tiverton. After finishing school in 2001 he went on to study Sports and Exercise Science at the University of Gloucestershire. While at university, Gary caught the eye of Premiership side Bath Rugby and spent a season and a half with their academy. Gary was unable to break into the Bath first team and in 2003 signed for second division side Exeter Chiefs, combining semi-professional rugby with his university studies.[5] A bit part player in his first couple of seasons, it took till the 2004-05 season for Gary to start becoming a first team regular, making over 20 league appearances and scoring 9 tries, in an Exeter side that finished second to Bristol Shoguns and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership. His performances for Exeter saw Gary being called up to represent Devon in the 2005 county championship, scoring a try during the final at Twickenham, which Devon won 22-16 against Lancashire.[6]

The next couple of seasons would see Gary continue to play regularly for the Chiefs as they skirted the upper echelons of the second division. In 2008 he would also make a appearance in the final of the EDF Energy Trophy where the Chiefs lost to 13-24 at Twickenham to Northampton Saints, a side that not only won promotion back to the Premiership but also finished undefeated in all league and cup games that season.[7] The 2008-09 season would see Gary getting less game time at the Chiefs and he decided to drop down a division to go on loan at Launceston, helping the Cornish side to a mid-table finish.

After six seasons with Exeter, Gary left the club to sign with local rivals, Plymouth Albion for the 2009-10 season in what was the first year of the new RFU Championship.[8][9] Gary only spent one season at Albion, despite being a regular, as the side failed to make the league playoffs, finishing 8th, and in 2010 he dropped down two divisions to return to semi-professional rugby with the Taunton Titans in National League 2 South.[10] While playing for Taunton Gary has become one of the most prolific points scorers in the division, topping the season scoring charts twice. He has also combined his playing career with Taunton with coaching duties and in 2012 he was was given a community coaching role by the RFU, being responsible for the south Devon region.[11]

Season-by-season playing stats

Season Club Competition Appearances Tries Drop Goals Conversions Penalties Total Points
2002-03 Exeter Chiefs National Division One 11 5 0 0 0 25
Powergen Shield 2 0 0 0 0 0
2003-04 National Division One 8 0 0 0 2 6
Powergen Cup 1 0 0 0 0 0
2004-05 National Division One 21 9 0 6 1 60
Powergen Cup 3 3 0 0 0 15
2005-06 National Division One 21 8 0 4 9 75
Powergen National Trophy 3 2 0 0 0 10
2006-07 National Division One 24 7 0 0 1 38
EDF Energy National Cup 5 2 0 0 0 10
2007-08 National Division One 14 2 0 15 2 46
EDF Energy National Trophy 5 1 0 4 4 25
2008-09 National Division One 3 0 0 0 0 0
Launceston National Division Two 16 6 0 6 0 42
EDF Energy National Trophy 1 0 0 0 0 0
2009-10 Plymouth Albion RFU Championship 25 1 0 0 0 5
British & Irish Cup 3 0 0 0 0 0
2010-11 Taunton Titans National League 2 South 27 9 0 52 28 233
2011-12 National League 2 South 30 5 0 9 6 61
2012-13 National League 2 South 27 10 0 52 20 214
2013-14 National League 2 South 26 1 0 45 29 182
2014-15 National League 2 South 29 5 1 69 47 307
2015-16 National League 2 South 29 4 1 82 32 283

[12]

Honours & Records

Exeter Chiefs

Taunton Titans

Devon

References

  1. ↑ "Gary Kingdom Details". Rugby Statbunker. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. ↑ "Taunton Titans Gary Kingdom Profile". Taunton Titans RFC (Pitchero). Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "National Two South All time leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 30 April 2016.
  4. ↑ "Gary Kingdom Community Rugby Coach and Rugby player". Linkedin. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. ↑ "Kingdom relishing new start at Albion". CornwallLive. 18 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "Devon 22 Lancashire 16". Manchester Evening News. 1 July 2005.
  7. ↑ "Northampton Saints complete league and cup double". Rugby Network. 13 April 2008.
  8. ↑ "Albion sign Kingdom from Chiefs". BBC Sport. 17 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "Kingdom wants play-offs with Albion". Exeter Express & Echo. 19 June 2009.
  10. ↑ "Taunton sign twelve players for 2010-11 season". Somerset County Gazette. 2 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Kingdom lands RFU staff coaching post". Somerset County Gazette. 2 July 2010.
  12. ↑ "Gary Kingdom Record by competition". Rugby Statbunker. 30 April 2016.
  13. ↑ "National Two South 14/15 Leading top scorers". Statbunker. 26 April 2015.
  14. ↑ "National Two South 15/16 Leading top scorers". Rugby Statbunker. 30 April 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.