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The Wales national rugby union team represents the Welsh Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. Its governing body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU), was established in 1881, the same year that Wales played their first international against England. The team plays its home matches at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, which replaced Cardiff Arms Park as the national stadium of Wales in 1999.
The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team formed as a result of Neath RFC and Swansea RFC combining to create a new merged entity, as part of the new regional structure of Welsh rugby, that began in 2003. They are also affiliated with a number of local semi-professional and amateur clubs, including Welsh Premier Division sides Aberavon RFC, Bridgend Ravens, and original founding clubs Neath and Swansea. The regional area represented by the team has widely become known for rugby purposes as 'Ospreylia'.
Cardiff Rugby is one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions.
Gavin Lloyd Henson is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.
Philip Thomas Davies is a Welsh former rugby union footballer of the 1980s and 1990s. He is now an international coach, currently serving as director of rugby at Leeds Tykes, whilst running his own sports consultancy company.
Gethin Jenkins is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop for Pontypridd, Celtic Warriors, Cardiff Blues and Toulon. At international level, he won 129 caps for Wales. On his 105th appearance in 2014, he became Wales' most-capped player, overtaking the record held by Stephen Jones; having earned his final cap in November 2016, his record was surpassed by Alun Wyn Jones in September 2019. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams. He also won five caps for the British & Irish Lions on three tours in 2005, 2009 and 2013. He is the sixth most-capped player in rugby union history and the most-capped front-row forward.
Tomos George Llewellyn Shanklin is a former Welsh rugby union player who played outside centre for Cardiff Blues and Wales. He played club rugby for London Welsh and then Saracens, before joining Cardiff Blues in 2003.
William Michael Phillips is a rugby union player who plays at scrum-half. On 16 March 2013, Phillips surpassed the record of 76 caps set by Dwayne Peel as the most capped scrum-half for Wales.
Andrew Keith Hore is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played for the All Blacks between 2002 and 2013. His position was hooker. He notably played for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, but also represented the Highlanders and the Crusaders. When available, he played for Taranaki in the ITM Cup, now known as the Mitre 10 Cup. Hore retired from international rugby after playing Ireland during the 2013 All Black Northern Hemisphere tour, with a total of 83 test caps to his name. In 2008 Hore received the Kelvin Tremain Trophy for Rugby player of the year. In 2011, Andrew Hore captained the All Blacks against Canada.
Alun Wyn Jones is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays as a lock for Toulon and formerly for the Wales international team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player, with 158 caps for Wales and 12 for the British & Irish Lions, and also holds the records for the most Wales caps and the second most Wales caps as captain. He retired from international rugby in 2023.
Adam Rhys Jones is a Welsh former professional international rugby union player for Wales and the British & Irish Lions.
Andrew Powell is a Welsh former rugby union player, who last played for Merthyr RFC. He is a former international rugby union player having played for both the Wales sevens team, and the Wales national rugby union team as well as touring with the British and Irish Lions (uncapped). His regular rugby union position was either No. 8 or blindside flanker in the back row.
Kenneth James Owens is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a hooker for the Scarlets and Wales. He made his debut for the Scarlets in 2006, taking over from Matthew Rees as their first-choice hooker upon Rees' departure for the Cardiff Blues in 2013. He also served as backup to Rees, among others, for Wales following his debut against Namibia at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. In 2016, he took over as Wales' first-choice hooker, and in January 2023, following almost a year out with a back injury, he was named as captain for the 2023 Six Nations Championship.
Jonathan Davies is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays at centre for the Scarlets and the Wales national team. He is commonly known as "Fox", differentiating him from the Jonathan Davies who played both rugby union and rugby league during the 1980s and 1990s. His brother is James Davies, who also played professional rugby for Wales as a flanker.
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Rhys Priestland is a Welsh international rugby union player who plays as a fly-half for Cardiff Rugby and the Wales national team. Although he primarily plays as a fly-half, he is also capable of playing at full-back. Born in Llangathen, Carmarthenshire, he began his career with Llanelli RFC before progressing to the Scarlets regional side. After eight years with the Scarlets, he moved to England to play for Bath in the English Premiership, where he spent six seasons before returning to Wales with Cardiff Rugby. He made his Wales debut in 2011, and earned 50 caps – including being named in the squad for the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups – before his move to England made him ineligible for selection.
Stephen Leigh Halfpenny is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a fullback or wing for the Scarlets. Halfpenny is the third highest points scorer for Wales after Neil Jenkins and Stephen Jones.
Tavis Knoyle is a Wales international rugby union footballer who plays at scrum-half.
William Gwyn Hullin was a Welsh international rugby union scrum-half who played club rugby for Cardiff and London Welsh. He represented the Barbarians and played county rugby for Surrey and the London Counties. Hullin was capped only once for Wales, being unfortunate to be playing at the same time as Gareth Edwards, one of the greatest scrum-halves in world rugby. Despite his lack of international caps, he was a regular first team club player, and toured overseas, with Cardiff, London Welsh and the Barbarians. He was also a successful Sevens player, finishing in the winning team in both the Snelling Sevens and the Middlesex Sevens.
Lloyd Williams is a Wales international rugby union player. A scrum-half, he plays club rugby for the Cardiff Rugby. He attended Cowbridge Comprehensive School and Ysgol Gyfun Bro Morgannwg and he is a fluent Welsh speaker.
References
- ↑ Bradley Davies player profile Scrum.com
- ↑ Sky Sports Charteris given Welsh call
- ↑ RBS Match Report Archived 15 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Wales 2010 Six Nations Squad
- ↑ Wales 20 – 26 France: French prevail despite late Welsh fightback The Scotsman, 27 February 2010
- ↑ Rees, Paul (8 February 2012). "Six Nations 2012: Bradley Davies banned for remainder of tournament". The Guardian. London.
- ↑ "Abs' Hore king hits Wales' Davies". 3 News NZ. 25 November 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ↑ "Steve Hansen expects Hore to face judiciary". 3 News NZ. 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2012.
- ↑ stuff.co.nz, 25 November 2012
- ↑ "Bradley Davies, Wales rugby player, bailed after fight". BBC Sport. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2011.