Pontypridd is both the county town of Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales and a community. Often colloquially known as "Ponty", it is 12 miles (19 km) north of Cardiff.
The Wales national rugby union team represents Wales 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 Pro14 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'.
The PRO14 is an annual rugby union competition involving professional sides from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales. The league is one of the three major professional leagues in Europe, the most successful European teams from which go forward to compete in the European Rugby Champions Cup, the pan-European championship which replaced the Heineken Cup after the 2013–14 season.
The Millennium Stadium, known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and has also held Wales national football team games. Initially built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup, it has gone on to host many other large-scale events, such as the Tsunami Relief Cardiff concert, the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, the Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain and various concerts. It also hosted six FA Cup finals and several other high-profile football fixtures while Wembley Stadium was being redeveloped.
Gethin Jenkins is a Welsh former rugby union player. He won 129 international caps for Wales and 5 for the British and Irish Lions. Jenkins was the record cap holder for Wales until he was overtaken by Alun Wyn Jones on 29 September 2019. He is the sixth most-capped player in rugby union history and the most capped front row forward. He is one of a small group of Welsh players to have won three Grand Slams including Gerald Davies, Gareth Edwards, JPR Williams, Ryan Jones, Adam Jones and Alun Wyn Jones. On 31 October 2018 he announced his intention to retire after a final game for the Cardiff Blues against Zebre on Sunday 4 November 2018.
Michael Owen, is a former Welsh international rugby union player, who most often played Number 8, but was also versatile enough to play flanker or even lock. His ball handling was arguably his greatest asset.
Caerphilly Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team founded in 1887. Their home ground is Virginia Park in Caerphilly and their nickname is The Cheesemen. Caerphilly RFC currently play in the WRU Division Two East Central and are a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Beddau is a large former mining village situated within the South Wales Valleys around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from Llantrisant and 4 miles (6.4 km) from the larger town of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales.
Association football is one of the most popular sports in Wales, along with rugby union. Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during the Victorian period, and in 1876 a Wales national football team played their first international match. Football has always had a close rivalry with the country's de facto national sport rugby union, and it is much discussed as to which is Wales' more popular game. The Football Association of Wales (FAW), was established in 1876 to oversee the Wales national team and govern the sport in Wales, later creating and running the Welsh football league system.
Sport in Wales plays a prominent role in Welsh culture. The most popular sports in Wales are rugby union and association football. Like the other countries of the United Kingdom, Wales enjoys independent representation in major world sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup and in the Rugby World Cup, but competes as part of Great Britain in some other competitions, including the Olympics.
Beddau Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the village of Beddau, South Wales. The present club was formed in 1951-52, but it can trace its roots to around 1900. Beddau RFC is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for Cardiff Blues.
Senghenydd Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Senghenydd in South Wales. The club formed during the 1898/99 season built around the immigrant workers coming from port areas around Wales to find employment in the newly sunk Senghenydd coal mines.
The Glamorgan County Silver Ball Trophy is a Welsh rugby union competition open to all non-premier Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) clubs playing in the Glamorgan area.
Markham is a small village in the South Wales Valleys in Caerphilly County Borough, to the northeast of Bargoed. Built as a planned garden village starting in 1913, it grew out of the need to house employees of Markham Colliery. Today it is a district of the community of Argoed. The B4511 road links to Markham from Aberbargoed and joins the A4048 road to the north of Argoed. The Sirhowy River flows to the east of the village. The villages population was around 1,495 people in 2011.
John Mantle was a Welsh dual-code international rugby player. He was capped for Wales at rugby union, and Great Britain and Wales in rugby league.
George Philip North is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys in the Pro14 and the Wales national team. He has also represented the British and Irish Lions and currently has the most tries in international rugby for an active player. His usual position is wing, but he has also played at outside centre. North is the second highest all time try scorer for Wales behind Shane Williams.
Simphiwe Martin Sithole is a South African rugby union player for the Falcons in the Currie Cup and the Rugby Challenge. His regular position is flanker.
Rhys Edwards is a Level 4 Rugby Union coach. He is currently Director of Rugby at Loughborough University, overseeing all Rugby Union activities for both the Men's and Women's programmes. Between 2010-2016 he coached the WRU Women National Rugby Union Squad who competed in the Six Nations Championship and World Rugby Women's World Cup in 2014.
The Worthington Welsh Districts Cup was a national rugby union competition in Wales that ran for 36 years, sponsored most recently by Worthington Brewery. The 1990 winner’s are missing Hartridge HSOB bear Bala in the final