Rowland Winter
Rowland Winter | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 February 1985 |
| Occupation | coach |
 |
Rowland Winter (born 17 February 1985) is a British rugby union coach.
Coaching career
[edit]Early roles
[edit]Winter began his coaching career at Northampton Saints, in a number of roles within the Junior Academy and Community Development. During his early 20s, Winter enjoyed successful league and cup wins as Head coach at both Northampton BBOB RFC[1] and Bedford Athletic.[2] He had successful coaching experience in the England U-20s Counties structure.[citation needed]
Cambridge RFC
[edit]From February 2013 Winter was appointed Director of Rugby at Cambridge RFC. He restructured all playing aspects of the club over a successful three year period, and led them to win the English National League 2 in 2015-16.
In January 2023, Winter returned to the club in the role of Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all aspects of rugby and commercial operations. In May 2023, the club were promoted to the RFU Championship after a strong second half to the season.
Eastern Counties
[edit]Winter led the senior Eastern Counties team to a County Cup Final at Twickenham in 2015.[citation needed]
Coventry RFC
[edit]In May 2016 he was appointed Director of Rugby at Coventry RFC, leading them to win the English National League 1 in the 2017-18 season.[3][4] In May 2018 he signed a contract extension to 2022.[5]
In 2018-19 Winter led Coventry to an 8th place finish, and cup quarter final in their first season back in the Greene King IPA Championship. To date, this is the most successful and highest place finish from any promoted side in the history of the competition.
In 2019-20 Coventry were 4th, when coronavirus halted the Championship.[6]
In January 2022, following a home defeat by Cornish Pirates, Winters whereabouts became a mystery until it was confirmed by the club in April that he had left the club. [7]
Alex Rae was later appointed Head Coach.[8]
Methods
[edit]At both Cambridge and Coventry Winter made significant changes in both the coaching team and playing squad soon after being appointed. [9][10][11]
St Joseph's College, Ipswich
[edit]In May 2022 it was announced that Winter had moved to schools rugby coaching, with the appointment as Director of Rugby at St Joseph’s College (Ipswich).
References
[edit]- ^ "Northampton BBOB RFC". Pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ "Bedford Athletic announce First XV captain - News - Bedford Athletic Rugby Club". Pitchero.com. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ "Coventry lift National League One trophy in front of record Butts Park Arena crowd of 3,758 after 38-21 win over Hull Ionians - CoventryLive". Coventrytelegraph.net. 29 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Heal, Chris (18 November 2017). "Rowland Winter's Coventry side are heading in the right direction". NCA Rugby. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Branston, Tom (21 May 2018). "Cov's biggest signing of summer so far". CoventryLive. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ "RFU". www.englandrugby.com. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ Bridge, Bobby (26 March 2022). "Mystery surrounds Rowland Winter's ongoing absence from Coventry Rugby duties". CoventryLive. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
- ^ https://www.coventryrugby.co.uk/alex-rae-named-head-coach/
- ^ "Coventry Rugby's new boss Rowland Winter lays foundations for success - CoventryLive". Coventrytelegraph.net. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Charlie Morgan (26 January 2018). "How a sleeping giant of English rugby is stirring in Coventry". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Shaun Reynolds (25 September 2017). "INTERVIEW: 'We feel as though we are a Championship team' says Coventry boss Rowland Winter". The Coventry Observer. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ https://www.stjos.co.uk/news/latest-news/winter-is-coming/