 Coombs attended Ysgol Gyfun Rhydywaun, and is a fluent Welsh speaker.He played for Newport Youth and Pontypool RFC before joining Newport RFC at the start of the 2006–07 season.He made almost 50 appearances for Newport and in August 2008 he was made Newport's club captain, succeeding Dai Pattison who had captained the club for 2 years prior.