Stuart Barnes was born in Grays, Essex, on 22 November 1962 and educated at Bassaleg School in south Wales and Oxford University where he gained three Blues including the captaincy in 1983. He played for Wales Schools at full-back and was captain at both under-15 and under-19 levels. He senior club rugby was with Newport, Bristol and, chiefly, Bath. Between 1984 and 1993 he gained 10 caps at fly-half for England, scoring 34 points. On the 1993 British Isles tour of New Zealand his eight appearances and 33 points included the captaincy against North Auckland, Taranaki and Hawkes Bay. He also captained the Barbarians against Scotland in 1991. He later became a journalist, magazine editor and a broadcaster with Sky Sports.