The brothers are also nephews of Welsh international Barry John,[1] and Quinnell's godfather was Mervyn Davies.
He was part of the 1994 Five Nations-winning Welsh team and was man of the match in Wales' 24–15 victory over France that year with a try and a breakaway to set up another try.
Quinnell played loose forward in Wigan's 25–16 victory over St. Helens in the 1996 Regal Trophy final.
Quinnell announced his retirement from rugby union at the end of the 2004–05 season in order to concentrate on his role as coach of the Llanelli RFC Welsh Premier Division team.
He played his final game in a testimonial match with fellow retiree Rob Howley at the Millennium Stadium.
Quinnell currently regularly appears as a commentator and pundit on a number of Sky Sports televised rugby matches.
In 2017 he co-wrote (with psychologist Paul Boross) the book Leader On The Pitch, with a foreword written by Sir Clive Woodward.
In 2020, he participated in Iaith ar Daith ('Language Road Trip'), a show for S4C where he and several other celebrities learned Welsh, broadcast in April 2020.
He has represented the Welsh Dyslexia Project, and also completed an autobiography[12] as part of the Accent Press Quick Reads series.
He was taken to West Wales General Hospital in Carmarthen with a severed right triceps, and glass embedded in his right arm, hand and knee.