Shane Paul Howarth is a former international rugby union player who gained four caps and scored 54 points for the All Blacks before later switching allegiance to Wales, attaining 19 Welsh caps. An outside-half or full-back, he was a prolific goal-kicker and a fast elusive runner. He scored 23 points for Wales including a try in the 32–31 victory over England in 1999 played at Wembley as the Millennium Stadium was under construction in Cardiff.
He played for the Auckland Marist club and Auckland. He made his All Black debut against South Africa in 1994 and played in three tests in the series. In 1996 he switched to rugby league, signing with the North Queensland Cowboys in the Australian Rugby League competition. He played twelve games for the club and scored forty nine points, including three field goals. However he was not re-signed by the club and instead returned to rugby union, playing three games for the Auckland Blues during the 1997 Super 12 season. He moved to England to play for Sale at outside-half. There was then a tug-of-war between various nations for him to play for them, but he chose Wales, after being offered the chance to play for Newport. Howarth moved to Newport RFC in 1999 and played for the club until 2003, scoring 1,035 points and helping the Black & Ambers win the WRU Principality Cup.
Coaching
Howarth commenced a coaching in Auckland. He was assistant coach of the Pacific Islanders, New Zealand in 2004 and 2005. Howarth was assistant coach for the Auckland NPC team from 2006 until 2010 under Pat Lam. Auckland claimed four championships in 10 years. Howarth's tenure was ended after Auckland slumped to seventh in 2010. In June 2012 he was appointed as backs coach to London Wasps. From September 2013 until late 2014, Howarth was backs coach for the Worcester Warriors.
Grannygate
In 2000 it was discovered that his grandfather was not born in Wales but New Zealand, and he was ineligible to play for Wales. The scandal that followed was termed "grannygate" and Howarth was banned from representing Wales. He retired at the end of 2003. Howarth could have qualified for Wales through residency before he retired but by then the IRB had changed the rules so that players could only represent one country.
