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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.
Mark Anthony Jones is a Welsh professional rugby union coach and former player who played as a wing for the Scarlets and Wales. Since making his international debut for Wales in 2001, he won 47 caps and scored 13 tries. Since going into coaching, Jones has held head-coaching jobs with Rotherham, RGC 1404 and the Namibia national team.
Chris Horsman is a former Wales international rugby union player.
Clive Ronald Griffiths, also known by the nickname of "Griff", is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached rugby union and rugby league in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, at invitational level for the Barbarian F.C., and at club level for Llanelli RFC, as a full-back, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for St. Helens and Salford, as a fullback, wing or centre, and coached representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Newcastle Emlyn RFC, London Welsh RFC, Swansea RFC, Newport Gwent Dragons, Doncaster Knights, Worcester Warriors and RGC 1404, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Wales, and at club level for the South Wales and the North Wales Crusaders, and as of 2018 he is the Director of Rugby at the Doncaster Knights.
Frano Michael Botica is a New Zealand-Croatian rugby union and rugby league coach and former player in both codes, who played in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the head coach of the Philippines sevens team.
RGC 1404, formerly "Gogledd Cymru", is a rugby union team founded in 2008 and based in Colwyn Bay, Conwy. They currently play in the Welsh Premier Division; after winning Division 1 East at the first attempt in 2012–13, they spent three seasons in the Welsh Championship before earning promotion to the Premier Division in 2015–16. They finished fourth in their first season in the top flight, but also won the WRU Challenge Cup for the first time. They play at Eirias Stadium, which has a capacity of just over 6,000.
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.
Matthew Silva is a Welsh rugby union coach, who is the current coach of RGC 1404. He is a former rugby union and professional rugby league footballer, who played from the 1980s to the 2000s. In rugby union (RU), he played as a number eight, fly-half, centre, wing and fullback. In rugby league (RL), he played as a fullback, i.e. number 1.
Cory Allen is a retired Welsh international rugby union player. A centre or wing, he played for Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys. Allen joined the Dragons in 2021, but did not feature for the side.
Rhun Williams is a retired Welsh rugby union player. He grew up in Llanrug. Rhun played primarily as a fullback for Cardiff Blues, but also could play wing. He was a Wales U20 international.
Huw Charles Taylor is an English rugby union player who plays as a lock or a flanker for RGC 1404. Taylor has previously played for Worcester Warriors and Dragons RFC, and has represented England U20.
Joel Bennett Ringer is a Welsh professional rugby union player. Ringer currently plays rugby union for RGC 1404 after joining from Rugby Club Vannes in May 2018. He is the son of former Wales dual-code rugby international player Paul Ringer, and brother of former Welsh Rugby Union and Dragons player Jamie Ringer.
Tom Williams is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys as a wing. Born in Shrewsbury, England, he was a Wales under-20 and Wales Sevens international.
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.
Tomi Lewis is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for the Scarlets as a fullback or wing. Lewis has represented Wales 7s and Wales U20, most recently in the 2019 U20 Six Nations.
Sean Patrick Lonsdale is a rugby union lock for Dragons in the United Rugby Championship.
Bradley Roberts is a rugby union player who plays as a hooker for United Rugby Championship side Dragons RFC. He was called up to play international rugby for Wales in 2021.
Gwenllian Pyrs is a Welsh rugby union player who plays loosehead prop for the Wales women's national rugby union team and Sale Sharks Women of Premier 15s. She made her debut for the Wales rugby union team in 2017 and has played in 15 matches for the national side. Pyrs has played for Scarlets, RGC Women, Caernarfon RFC and Firwood Waterloo at the club level. She works as a farmer, sheepdog breeder and trainer as well as a rugby hub officer for the Welsh Rugby Union while continuing her rugby career.
Sam Wainwright is a Welsh rugby union player who plays as a prop for United Rugby Championship club the Scarlets. He is a Wales international, and has also appeared for the U20 team.
References
- ↑ "Dragons:RGC 1404 duo Tiaan Loots & Jacob Botica sign". BBC. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ↑ "How the son of an All Black great is tearing up Wales top league and leading the North Wales rugby revolution". Wales Online. 10 January 2017.
