Bridgend is a town in the Bridgend County Borough of Wales, 20 miles (32 km) west of Cardiff and 20 miles (32 km) east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Ogmore. The River Ewenny also flows through the town. The population was 49,597 in 2021. Bridgend is within the Cardiff Capital Region which in 2019 had a population of approximately 1.54 million.
Pontypridd Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. It competes in the Indigo Group Premiership, that it won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and the WRU National Cup, that it has won on 6 different occasions, the most recent being in 2014.
Ian Scott Gibbs is a Welsh former rugby footballer who has represented Wales and the Lions in rugby union and Wales and Great Britain in rugby league. Noted feats included his performance in the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa and the individual try he scored in the dying minutes of the last Five Nations match in 1999 against England.
Neath Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Indigo Premiership for Season 2023/24. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The team is known as the All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a white cross pattée as an emblem. Neath RFC is the oldest rugby club in Wales, having been formed in 1871. They are feeder club to the Ospreys regional team.
James William Hook is a retired Welsh rugby union player. Hook has won 81 caps for Wales and is Wales' fifth highest all-time points scorer. Most often playing as a fly-half, Hook is known as a utility player, and has also played as a centre, wing and fullback.
The Gnoll in Neath, Wales is a sports ground, with a capacity of 6,000. It is used primarily for rugby union and cricket, although it has also been used previously for association football and rugby league. The stadium has hosted international rugby matches, with it being the home ground of the Wales women's national rugby union team, and men's matches included one during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup against the Cook Islands.
Ogmore Vale is a village in the county borough of Bridgend, Wales on the River Ogmore. The village's main source of income came from coal mining. Up until the year 1865, the Ogmore valley was a quiet, isolated, rural hill farming community of less than ten farms and a few cottages. Today, along with Nantymoel and Price Town it makes up the community of Ogmore Valley.
Brian Richard Williams was a Welsh international rugby union player.
Lyn Jones is a former Wales international rugby union player. Originally playing as a flanker, Jones subsequently became a coach. He played most of his playing career for Neath RFC and started his coaching career at the same club. Jones has coached professional clubs in Wales and England and, in 2018, became head coach of the Russian national rugby union team. He subsequently beame a coach with national rugby team of the Netherlands.
Rowland David Phillips is a Welsh former rugby union and rugby league footballer.
Tonna Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Tonna, Wales. Tonna RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Ospreys.
Shaun Connor is a former Wales 7s international rugby union player and the current backs coach of the Welsh National Team. He was a crucial part of the Ospreys team that defeated Australia, earning him the title of Man of the Match. He has previously played for the Ospreys, being the first back to make 100 appearances for the club, and the Dragons. After retiring he went on to coach the Ospreys Under 20s and also worked with the Dragons as backs coach.
Kevin Stewart Ellis is a Welsh former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. A Great Britain and Wales national representative. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Bridgend RFC, Maesteg RFC, Treorchy RFC, Sale Sharks, London Irish, Cardiff RFC, Pontypool RFC and Ebbw Vale RFC, at representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Warrington Wolves, Workington Town, Gold Coast Chargers, Bridgend Blue Bulls and Celtic Crusaders, as a stand-off, scrum-half, or loose forward.
The 1964 Wales rugby union tour of Africa was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Wales national rugby union team to Africa. The tour took in five matches against African regional and invitational teams with one test against South Africa. This was the first official Wales tour to the southern hemisphere; Wales' first match outside Europe was played against East Africa on Tuesday May 12, 1964.
Tavis Knoyle is a Wales international rugby union footballer who plays at scrum-half.
Brinley "Bryn" Phillips was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Taibach RFC, Aberavon RFC and Glamorgan Police RFC, as a lock, i.e. number 4 or 5, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales and Glamorgan, and at club level for Huddersfield, as a second-row or loose forward, i.e. number 11 or 12, or 13, during the era of contested scrums.
Harold "Hal" James Jones was a Welsh rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Neath RFC, Maesteg RFC, Cardiff RFC, Glamorgan Police RFC and Glamorgan County RFC, as a lock, i.e. number 4 or 5, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for Wigan and Keighley as a prop, or second-row, i.e. number 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested scrums.
Oliver Jonathan Devoto is an English rugby union player, who plays for Exeter Chiefs as a utility back primarily as a centre and fly-half.
Joe Hawkins is a Welsh international rugby union player who currently plays his club rugby at centre for Exeter Chiefs in the Premiership. Hawkins began his professional career with the Ospreys in the URC, before signing for Exeter in 2023. He represents Wales at international level, having made his test debut against Australia during the 2022 Autumn Internationals. He has 5 caps.
Dafydd Jenkins is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays as a lock for Premiership Rugby club Exeter Chiefs and captains the Wales national team.
