Related Research Articles
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.
Dragons RFC are one of the four professional rugby union regional teams in Wales. They are owned by the Welsh Rugby Union and play their home games at Rodney Parade, Newport. They play in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup/European Rugby Challenge Cup. The region they represent covers an area of southeast Wales including Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen with a total population approaching 600,000 and they are affiliated with a number of semi-professional and amateur clubs throughout the area, including Pontypool RFC, Caerphilly RFC, Cross Keys RFC, Ebbw Vale RFC and Newport RFC.
Rugby union in Wales is considered a large part of Welsh national culture. Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881. Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most Six Nations Championships after England, as well as having reached 3 World Cup semi finals in 1987, 2011 and 2019, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970s is considered to be arguably the greatest national team of all time, prompting many experts in the game to suggest that had the Rugby World Cup existed during this period, Wales would be amongst the list of World Cup winners. As of November 2021, they are ranked 8th in the world.
Gavin Lloyd Henson is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.
Phil Greening is an English former rugby union footballer who played as a hooker. Greening finished his rugby career with London Wasps in 2005. During his career he earned 24 caps for England, as well as going to Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2001.
Lee Byrne is a Welsh former professional rugby union and rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s.
William Gareth Davies is a former Wales and British and Irish Lions international rugby union player and former chairman of the Welsh Rugby Union.
Luke Charteris is a former rugby union player who played as a lock for the Newport Gwent Dragons, Perpignan, Racing 92 and Bath, as well as the Wales national team. He made 74 appearances for Wales between 2004 and 2017. Since his retirement from playing in 2019, he has served as Bath's line-out coach.
Llandovery RFC is a Welsh rugby union club based in Llandovery, Carmarthenshire, Wales. The club is an inaugural member of the Welsh Rugby Union, currently play in the Welsh Premier Division and is a feeder club for the Scarlets, a Pro14 club. Llandovery won the Premier Division during the 2022–23 season, defeating reigning champions Cardiff RFC in the final.
Nigel Owens, is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He previously held the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international referees listed as professional within the Welsh Rugby Union, alongside Craig Evans, Adam Jones, Dan Jones and Ben Whitehouse. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest rugby referees of all time.
Matthew Jones is a Welsh international rugby union player. A fly-half, he played for the Ospreys and the Wales Under-21 team, figuring in the Grand Slam winning side. In 2005 he was part of the senior Wales squad summer tour of North America and attained his first full cap against Canada.
Welsh regional rugby is the top tier of professional Welsh club rugby and is composed of the Scarlets, Ospreys, Cardiff Rugby and the Dragons which compete in the United Rugby Championship.
Adam Hughes is a Welsh former rugby union player. He represented Wales at Under 16, Under 18 and Under 20 level and played for Dragons in the Pro12 competition and Exeter Chiefs in Premiership Rugby.
Steven Shingler is a professional rugby union player for Ealing Trailfinders in the RFU Championship. His favoured position is Fly-half but he also plays centre and full-back. His older brother Aaron Shingler is a Wales international rugby union player.
In June 2014, Wales toured South Africa, playing a 2-test series against the Springboks. In addition to the two Test matches, Wales also played a warm-up uncapped match against domestic club side Eastern Province Kings. The three matches coincided with the June International Window, playing in the second and third week of the window.
Mike Adamson is a former Scotland 7s international rugby union player and now referee. His primary playing position was at fly-half. Adamson played professionally for Glasgow Warriors and London Scottish and at amateur level for Glasgow Hawks. Adamson is now a SRU referee for the Pro14, European Professional Club Rugby and World Rugby.
Megan Jones is a Welsh and English rugby union player. She debuted for England against New Zealand in 2015. She plays for Leicester Tigers Women at club level.
Aaron James Wainwright is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a number eight for United Rugby Championship club Dragons and the Wales national team.
Project Reset is a proposed Welsh Rugby Union reform programme to restructure Welsh regional rugby. Recent years have indicated both regional and club rugby in Wales is in financial crisis, with sides such as Neath RFC closely defeating a liquidation order and Ospreys at risk of losing key players in 2019 and the 2019/20 season ahead.
References
- Dorian Jones Rugby Highlights on YouTube
- https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/19877344.ex-dragons-fly-half-dorian-jones-thriving-frances-pro-d2/
- https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/only-two-welshmen-left-french-18203750
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/44255357
- https://www.wru.wales/article/dorian-making-the-most-of-french-living/
- https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/welsh-rugby-judgement-day-dragons-9109008
