Jack RowellOBE (1 November 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an English rugby union coach and executive. He was coach ofBath andEngland.
Rowell played as aLock forHartlepool Rovers andMiddlesbrough RUFC.[1] He was injured in trials forOxford University RFC and was recommended not to play again, but restarted playing in his late 20s atGosforth RFC.[2]
From 1972 Rowell coached Gosforth, leading them to victory in theJohn Player Cup in1975/76 and1976/77,[3] before his business career took him to the South West.[4]
Between 1978 and 1994 Rowell coached Bath during their golden era, winning eightJohn Player/Pilkington Cups and fiveLeague Championships.[5]
Rowell was the coach of theEngland rugby team from 1994 to 1997.[6][7] He took over fromGeoff Cooke, announcing that England would give up the forward-dominated, risk-free strategies that had won so manyFive Nations Championship titles in the past, instead adopting a 'running rugby' style.[citation needed] Rowell's England won twenty-one of their twenty-nine matches, including the1995 World Cup quarter-final againstAustralia. In percentage terms of games won Rowell is England's second most successful rugby union coach.[citation needed]
In 2002 he returned to Bath as director of rugby.[8]
In 1998 Rowell became anon-executive director on the board ofBristol, when millionaire businessmanMalcolm Pearce saved the club from extinction. In September 2000 he became managing director.
Rowell was Chairman of Celsis plc, Chairman of UK products Ltd which is quoted on AIM and Chairman of Turleigh Ltd, a private company.
He acted as chairman of a number of companies in the public and private sectors, mainly in food. He was previously an executive director on the board ofDalgety plc with responsibility for the consumer foods division.[9]
Rowell was born on 1 November 1936 inHartlepool.[4][10] On 1 July 2024, Rowell died at the age of 87.[11][12]
Rowell was awarded theOBE for services to the game of Rugby Union.
In 1994, he was awarded an Honorary Degree (Doctor of Laws) by theUniversity of Bath.[13]
| Preceded by | English national rugby coach 1994–1997 | Succeeded by |