I’m a former Wales Six Nations rugby star, now I run my own business selling candles

3 months ago 39

SCOTT QUINNELL made a career burning through opponents.

Now he runs his own business selling homemade candles.

Scott Quinnell played 52 times for Wales, scoring 11 tries[/caption]

He helps run the Quinnell Candle Company with his family[/caption]

The former Wales No8’s surname is synonymous with rugby after his dad Derek played for his country.

Brothers Craig and Gavin also played in the top tier – Craig made 32 appearances for Wales – while uncle Barry John was also an international star.

But it was Scott who represented the Dragons the most, a whopping 52 times between 1993 and 2002, including in the Six Nations and at the 1999 World Cup.

Quinnell, 51, also made a short-term q-wick switch to rugby league with Wigan and Wales.

But it was in union that he spent the majority of his career representing Llanelli, Richmond and Scarlets.

Quinnell also got named in two British & Irish Lions squads.

He had to sit out of the 1999 tour to South Africa due to a double hernia operation but played in all three games against Australia in 2001, scoring a try in the first test.

But after retiring in 2005, he dabbled in various careers including coaching, acting in Sky 1 TV drama Stella, and is a representative of the Welsh Dyslexia Project following his diagnosis in his 30s.

However, the shining light is the candle company he runs with his wife Nicola and daughters Lucy and Samantha.

He had the bright idea more than a decade ago and has been director of the Quinnell Candle Company since January 2012.

The family pour their own candles using soya wax and unbleached natural wicks with fragrance oils – although the girls do most of the handiwork near their Usk home.

Waxing lyrical about his relatives’ talents, Quinnell told Wales Online in 2013: “It all started around two years ago when my wife told me we were off to a candle-making class.

“Next thing I know, I’m sat in a room with 15 other women learning how to make candles.

Who knows, the Quinnell name might one day be as synonymous with candles as it is with rugby

Scott Quinnell

“It doesn’t seem like the kind of thing most people would imagine me doing, I’m sure, but I’ll tell you what, I was very proud of my little candle that I made that day.

“I have since decided to leave the candle-making to Nic and my younger daughter, Lucy, because they have become real experts and I’ve been left behind a little.

“So I’m working alongside my eldest, Samantha, on the marketing side of things.

“We have just become a wholesale company and we’re working with a number of outlets who are stocking the Quinnell Candles.”

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The candles are available at various stores – with prices starting from £5.

Quinnell – who was once hospitalised after severing a tricep and getting glass embedded in his hand and knee after falling through a shower door at home – added: “It’s actually lovely for me to be involved with something with my entire family which isn’t based on rugby.

“Even my boy, Steele, who’s an aspiring chef, is blogging his favourite recipes on the company website, which is another nice touch.

“And I don’t mind him going down that career route rather than rugby.

“He loves to cook and I love to eat. It’s perfect.

“Who knows, the Quinnell name might one day be as synonymous with candles as it is with rugby. We hope so.”