Rob Graham Thirlby born (2 March 1979) in Penzance, Cornwall is a Cornish rugby union footballer who plays on the wing or full back for Yatton whilst also acting as the video analyst for Gloucester Rugby.[1] He previously played for Moseley, Penzance-Newlyn, and for Redruth whom he joined from Gloucester Rugby. He played regularly for the England Sevens team.
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Educated at Richard Lander School, Thirlby began his career with Redruth before guesting for Penzance & Newlyn in the 1998 Safari Sevens tournament in Kenya where he was spotted by Kyran Bracken[2] who recommended him to Saracens and Thirlby joined the club ahead of the 1998-1999 season. He made his Sarries debut in an Anglo-Welsh clash with Cardiff on 16 January 1999, kicking 11 points in a 36-22 victory.[3] He made his Premiership debut against Northampton Saints on 6 February 1999 and went on to make 28 appearances for the club in the competition, scoring six tries.
Thirlby left Saracens to join Bath Rugby in May 2000[4] and celebrated his move with a call up for England's 2000 tour of South Africa.[5] Although he did not appear in the test side, he played in the three tour matches, scoring a try in the 36-27 victory over Gauteng Falcons.[6] He played 36 times for Bath in the Premiership scoring eight tries, the highlight being the hat-trick of tries he scored against Rotherham on 14 April 2001,[7] before joining Rotherham in February 2003.[8] He helped the club secure promotion from National Division One back into the Premiership before returning to Cornwall and Penzance & Newlyn for the 2003-2004 season.
After two seasons with Penzance & Newlyn, Thirlby returned to the Premiership by signing a two-year contract with Gloucester Rugby.[9] After just ten Premiership appearances and a solitary try, Thirlby joined Redruth on loan in January 2007, agreeing a permanent two-year contract with the club in March 2007.
Thirlby has been a regular member of the England Sevens team. He represented the team in both the RWC Sevens 2001 and RWC Sevens 2005, the only England player to do so,[10] and was a member of Joe Lydon's twelve-man squad for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester.[11] Although the team returned without medals, they did win the Sevens Plate in the tournament.[12] He has made 35 appearances in the IRB Sevens World Series, the third highest total by an England player.[13]