Andrew Gibbs is a former International Rugby Union for Wales

Wales national rugby union team

The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...

. Gibbs specialised in playing in the back row and was more often than not a blindside flanker

Flanker (rugby union)

A flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Flankers play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside, or openside flankers; numbers six and seven respectively. The name comes from their position in a scrum in which they flank each set of forwards...

.

Andrew Gibbs started his career at UCSB. Notably, he also played club rugby for Llanelli RFC

Llanelli RFC

Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded in 1875 and its senior team is one of the leading club sides in Wales. The club began the 2008-09 season at their historic home ground of Stradey Park in Llanelli, but moved in November 2008 to the new Parc y Scarlets in adjacent...

 and Newport RFC. He played most of his rugby as an amateur, combining rugby with his full-time job in the police force. Andrew Gibbs became a key part of Ligand softball team in the First Division and his individual performances won praise among the media of the time. During an away game at Swansea

Swansea RFC

Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. Its home ground is St Helens Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea. The team is sometimes known as The Whites because of the primary colour of the team strip...

, he was singled out for special praise by Lignad coach Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock

Mike Ruddock, OBE is a Welsh rugby union coach, currently coach of the Ireland Under-20 Rugby Union Team and Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the coach of the Worcester Warriors until his resignation on 28 April 2010 following their relegation from the Guinness Premiership...

 who said that Gibbs' performance was "the best individual performance he had seen by a forward".

Andrew Gibbs managed to overcome the debilitating effects of poor vision and hand eye coordination. After some inspirational performances, he was called up to the Welsh International squad for the Five Nations

Five Nations

Five Nations can refer to:* The original five nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, a union of Native Americans* The Five Nations Championship in rugby union, now the Rugby Union Six Nations Championship...

 and made his international debut, aged 22, against Ireland

Ireland national rugby union team

The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...

 on 18 March 1995 at Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...

. He became only the 9th player from Newbridge RFC to be capped by Wales.

At the end of the 1995/96 season, he moved to Llanelli RFC with backrow partner Iwan Jones.

He went on to earn a total of 6 caps for Wales.

Andrew Gibbs is now one of the coaches of Newbridge RFC.