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Rhys Oakley
Date of birth	16 September 1980 (age 44)
Place of birth	Plymouth, England
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	106 kg (16 st 10 lb; 234 lb)
School	Marlwood School
Rugby union career
Position(s)
Position(s)	Number eight
Youth career
	Thornbury RFC
Senior career
Years	Team
2002–2003; 2003–2006; 2006–2011; 2011–2012; 2012–2013; 2013–2015; 2017–2019	Bristol Bears; Newport Gwent Dragons; Yorkshire Carnegie; CS Bourgoin; Northampton Saints; Plymouth Albion; Hartpury College R.F.C.;
International career
Years	Team
2003	Wales
National sevens team
Years	Team
2006	Wales

Rhys Oakley (born 16 September 1980 in Plymouth) is a former professional rugby union footballer who played as a number eight. Oakley began his professional career with Bristol Rugby, before moving to the Newport Gwent Dragons, Leeds Tykes, Northampton Saints, and CS Bourgoin-Jallieu. During the final years of his career, Oakley spent time as a player-coach for Plymouth Albion R.F.C. and Hartpury University R.F.C. Oakley is a Wales international and represented Wales Sevens at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Club career

Oakley first played for Thornbury RFC, and attended Marlwood School where he played for the school's team.^[1] Oakley played for North Bristol RFC and Clifton RFC, before joining the Bristol U21 side, and ultimately gaining a first team contract.^[2]

Oakley played in the Premiership for Bristol Shoguns, where he made 19 starts for the club. He was named as man of the match on his second appearance, a Heineken Cup match against Clermont.^[2] Following Bristol's relegation from the top-flight in 2003, he joined Newport Gwent Dragons and made 50 appearances for Newport.^[3]

At the end of the 2005–06 season, Oakley and teammate Leigh Hinton were released by Newport Gwent Dragons, and joined Leeds Tykes on a two-year deal, for the start of the National Division One 2006–07 season, making his debut against London Welsh at Headingley on 3 September 2006.^[4]^[5]

Following Leeds' relegation at the end of the 2010–11 Premiership season, Oakley used a release clause to exit his contract with the club, and joined French club CS Bourgoin-Jallieu.^[6] Oakley spent one season with the side, before returning to the Premiership with Northampton Saints.^[7] Oakley played for the Saints for one season, and joined RFU Championship team Plymouth Albion R.F.C. as a player-coach in 2013.^[8] In 2015, Oakley suffered a leg fracture while playing for Plymouth, ending his season and coinciding with the club's relegation from the Championship.^[9]^[10]

Oakley departed Plymouth Albion in 2015, and joined Hartpury University R.F.C., again as a dual player-coach.^[11] While with Hartpury, Oakley was appointed as team captain, and helped the club gain promotion from National League One to the Championship.^[11] In 2018, Oakley was diagnosed with cancer, putting his playing career on hold.^[12] He successfully recovered, but retired from playing, remaining active as a coach.^[2]

International career

Oakley attained two Welsh caps in August 2003, making his debut for Wales against Ireland in the World Cup warm-up games in the back row alongside former Tyke Richard Parks.^[2]

Oakley was selected for Wales Sevens for the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, following an injury to Dragons teammate Jamie Ringer. Oakley scoring a try in the plate final, helping the team to a 28–24 victory.^[13]^[14]

Coaching career

Oakley's first coaching role came as a player-coach with Plymouth Albion, working as their forwards coach.^[8] After departing Plymouth, Oakley worked as head coach at Lydney RFC while playing for Hartpury, before leaving the role to focus fully on Hartpury, becoming their defence coach in 2017.^[15]^[11] Oakley rejoined Lydney in 2022, once again serving as head coach.^[16]

Personal life

Oakley's parents were born in Wales, and moved to Plymouth for work, where he was born.^[2] Oakley moved to Bristol at age four, and attended Marlwood School. In 2018, while playing for Hartpury, Oakley was diagnosed with cancer.^[17] After undergoing chemotherapy and surgery, Oakley successfully recovered in 2019.^[2]