Robin McBryde
| Full name | Robin Currie McBryde | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 3 July 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Bangor, Wales | ||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Weight | 98 kg (15 st 6 lb) | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Hooker | ||
| Professional / senior clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| Bangor RFC Menai Bridge RFC Mold RFC Swansea RFC Llanelli RFC Llanelli Scarlets |
|||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1994–2005 |  Wales |
37 | (5) |
Robin Currie McBryde (born 3 July 1970),[1] is a former rugby union player who gained 37 caps for Wales as a hooker between 1994 and 2005.
McBryde was born in Bangor but was brought up and educated in Llanfechell on Anglesey. He is a fluent Welsh speaker.[2] McBryde first played club rugby for Bangor RFC, Porthaethwy and for the North Wales team. He then moved to South Wales in search of a higher standard of rugby. He joined Swansea then moved to Llanelli, making his first appearance for the club on 1 October 1994 against Cardiff. He captained Llanelli when they won the Welsh Cup in 1998 and the Welsh Championship in 1999 and later played for the Llanelli Scarlets regional side when they were formed in 2003. He played 250 games for Llanelli and the Scarlets between 1994 and 2005.
He won his first cap for Wales against Fiji in 1994. His last international appearance was as a replacement in the match against Ireland in March 2005 which saw Wales clinch the Grand Slam.
He was selected for the British and Irish Lions 2001 tour to Australia, but was forced out of the tour by injury. Injury also meant that he missed the 2003 Six Nations Championship.
In August 2005 he announced his retirement from rugby following surgery to remove a disc from the top of his spine. He was appointed coach of the Scarlets Regional Under 18 team, subsequently appointed forwards coach for the Welsh national team. In June 2009 he was caretaker head coach of the Wales national team for the two match North American tour during Warren Gatland's absence as assistant coach to the British and Irish Lions. Wales won both matches against Canada and USA. He will again be caretaker head coach for interim head coach Rob Howley who is currently filling in for Warren Gatland. Both Gatland and Howley are coached in the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia.
McBryde worked as an overhead linesman before becoming a professional player, and won the "Wales' strongest man" competition in 1992. In 2007, he took over the role of Grand Sword Bearer at the National Eisteddfod of Wales from Ray Gravell.[3]