Rugby union coach and former rugby league footballer
Michael Forshaw (born 5 January 1970) is an English rugby union coach, and former professional rugby league and rugby union player. He is currently the defence coach for the Wales national rugby union team .
Forshaw began his playing career with Wigan in 1987 and went on to play for Wakefield Trinity , Bradford Bulls and Warrington Wolves . He played 14 times for Great Britain and 3 for England .
Background
Forshaw was born on 5 January 1970 in Wigan , Lancashire.
He had a brief stint at Saracens F.C. (RU) , and was briefly the Player Performance Lifestyle Advisor for the Rugby Football League .[citation needed ]
Playing career
Rugby league
During the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season , Forshaw played for defending champions Wigan from the interchange bench in their 1991 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting Penrith Panthers .
In 1997, he was named in the Super League Dream Team .[ 5] In the 1997 post-season, Forshaw was selected to play for Great Britain in two matches of the Super League Test series against Australia . Forshaw won caps for Great Britain while at Bradford Bulls in 1997 against Australia (ASL) (2 matches) (interchange /substitute ), in 1998 against New Zealand (interchange /substitute ), in 1999 against New Zealand (interchange /substitute ), in 2001 against France (interchange /substitute ), and Australia (3 matches), in 2002 against New Zealand (3 matches), and in 2003 against Australia (2 matches), and Australia (interchange /substitute ).[ 4]
Forshaw played for the Bradford Bulls from the interchange bench in the 1999 Super League Grand Final which was lost to St. Helens . Forshaw won caps for England while at the Bradford Bulls in 2000 against Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand.[ 3]
Forshaw played for the Bradford Bulls as a loose forward in their 2001 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors . As Super League VI champions, the Bradford Bulls played against the 2001 NRL Premiers, the Newcastle Knights in the 2002 World Club Challenge . Forshaw played as a loose forward in Bradford's victory.
Forshaw played for the Bradford Bulls as a loose forward in their 2002 Super League Grand Final loss against St. Helens .
Forshaw played for the Bradford Bulls as a loose forward in their 2003 Super League Grand Final victory against the Wigan Warriors . He signed a one-year contract with the Warrington Wolves for the 2004 season.[ 6]
Coaching career
Rugby league
After retiring from playing in 2004, he rejoined Warrington to look after Strength & Conditioning of the players until November 2006.[ 7]
He returned to his boyhood club and teamed up with his old coach Brian Noble in December 2006 when he took over as strength & conditioning coach for the Wigan Warriors .[ 8]
He studied a BSc part-time at UCLAN following Wigan's sponsorship by UCLAN.[citation needed ]
Rugby union
In 2010, Forshaw joined Connacht in the Celtic League as defence coach.[ 9]
In 2013, he joined the Sale Sharks in the same role.[ 10] Forshaw follows a '3D' approach to the contact area of defence: discipline, detail and decision-making, with a particular focus when within 50m of his team's own try line.[ 11] In July 2020 Forshaw extended his contract with Sale until the end of the 2022 season.[ 12]
In 2023, after a decade at Sale, Forshaw was appointed as defence coach for the Wales national team for the 2023 Six Nations Championship .[ 13]
References
External links