Birth name | Ashley Smith | ||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 13 February 1987 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Caerleon, Newport, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 93 kg (14 st 9 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||
School | Caerleon Comprehensive | ||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Ashley Smith (born 13 February 1987 in Caerleon, Newport, Wales) is a retired Welsh rugby union player who played as a centre for Newport Gwent Dragons. Smith attended Caerleon Comprehensive School and represented Wales at Under 16, 18 and 19 level and captained the Wales under 20 team for the 2007 six nations tournament.
Smith made his debut for Newport Gwent Dragons in the 2005–06 season and was appointed captain due to injury to Luke Charteris in September 2009.
In May 2010 he was voted Newport Gwent Dragons Player of the Year in a poll of South Wales Argus readers. [1]
Ashley Smith was forced to retire at the end of the 2014–15 season because of recurring concussions. [2]
Caerleon is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies 5 miles (8 km) northeast of Newport city centre, and 5.5 miles (9 km) southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman legionary fortress, Isca Augusta, and an Iron Age hillfort. Close to the remains of Isca Augusta are the National Roman Legion Museum and the Roman Baths Museum. The town also has strong historical and literary associations: Geoffrey of Monmouth elevated the significance of Caerleon as a major centre of British history in his Historia Regum Britanniae, and Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote Idylls of the King (1859–1885) while staying in Caerleon.
Cwmbran is a town in the county borough of Torfaen in South Wales.
Newport Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on the east bank of the River Usk.
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The University of Wales, Newport, was a university based in Newport, South Wales, before the merger that formed the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university had two campuses in Newport, Caerleon on the northern outskirts of the city, which was subsequently closed during July 2016, and a £35 million campus on the east bank of the River Usk in Newport city centre which opened in 2011. In 2012 the university was ranked 111th out of 120 UK universities in the Guardian League Table for university rankings, 105th out of 116 in The Complete University Guide and 104th out of 116 UK universities in the Times Good University Guide.
Caerleon Comprehensive School is an 11–18 mixed, English-medium community Secondary School and Sixth Form in Caerleon, Newport, Wales.
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Caerleon Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Caerleon on the northern outskirts of Newport in South Wales. The club is a large community with teams at most age levels, as well as the First XV and a Seconds side known as "The Helmets". This stems from the club's logo – the helmet of a Roman centurion.
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