Birth name | Mike Rayer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 21 July 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 115 kg (18 st 2 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Michael Anthony Rayer (born 21 July 1965) [2] is a former Wales international rugby union player. A full-back, he played his club rugby for Cardiff RFC and Bedford. He is currently coach to Bedford Blues. A talented and popular player, he played during a period where there was little success in Welsh rugby. He is commonly remembered for scoring two tries as a replacement wing against Scotland in 1994 (replacing fellow Cardiff player Nigel Walker). As tactical substitutions were not allowed at that time scores from replacements were still relatively rare.
Barry John is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC before switching to first-class west Wales team Llanelli RFC in 1964. It was while at Llanelli that John was first selected for the Wales national team, a shock selection as a replacement for David Watkins to face a touring Australian team.
Neil Jenkins, is a Welsh former rugby union player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever points-scorer and is the fifth highest on the List of leading rugby union test point scorers. He was the first player to score 1,000 points in international matches.
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after which relocating to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since.
Bedford Blues are a semi-professional rugby union club in the town of Bedford, England, currently playing in the RFU Championship. Bedford is one of the few towns in England where the rugby club is better supported than the football team, Bedford Town F.C..
In 1980 the British Lions rugby union team toured South Africa. The tour was not a success for the Lions, as they lost the first three tests before salvaging some pride with a win in the fourth. The team did however win all their 14 non-international matches. The Lions were captained by Bill Beaumont.
Chris Czekaj is a retired Wales international rugby union player, who played fullback or wing. He most recently played for Merthyr RFC, and spent most of his career with Cardiff Blues. He represented Wales and Wales U21.
Stephen Paul Ford was a Welsh international rugby union winger. After being banned from rugby union for an act of professionalism, he was eventually allowed back into the sport and went on to represent the Wales national team. He played club rugby for Cardiff.
Glenfield Michael Charles Webbe is a Welsh former international rugby union player. Often incorrectly stated to be the first Black Welshman to represent the Welsh national rugby union team, he has since been described as "Wales first black icon".
The 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team was a New Zealand rugby union team that toured Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand in 1888 and 1889. It mostly comprised players of Māori ancestry, but also included some Pākehā. A wholly private endeavour, the tour was not under the auspices of any official rugby authority; it was organised by New Zealand international player Joseph Warbrick, promoted by public servant Thomas Eyton, and managed by James Scott, a publican. The Natives were the first New Zealand team to perform a haka, and also the first to wear all black. They played 107 rugby matches during the tour, as well as a small number of Victorian Rules football and association football matches in Australia. Having made a significant impact on the development of New Zealand rugby, the Natives were inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2008.
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.
The 1975 England rugby union tour of Australia was a series of eight matches played by the England national rugby union team in Australia in May and June 1975. England won only four of the eight matches and lost both internationals to Australia. In addition to the two test defeats they also lost to the Sydney and New South Wales Country representative teams.
William Cleaver was a Welsh international Rugby Union fly-half who played club rugby for Cardiff. He won 14 caps for Wales and was selected to play for the British Lions on the 1950 tour of Australia and New Zealand. He was in the Welsh team that won the 1950 Grand Slam.
Francis Escott Hancock was an English-born rugby union centre who played club rugby for Somerset and Cardiff and international rugby for Wales. Hancock is best known as being the sport's first fourth threequarter player, which changed the formation of rugby union play that lasts to the present day. His role in the development of rugby was recognised by the International Rugby Board in 2011 with induction to the IRB Hall of Fame.
The 1975–76 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland was a series of matches played by the Australia national rugby union team. The team was referred to as the "Sixth Wallabies", although they were actually only the fifth Australian touring team to undertake a full tour of Britain & Ireland; the "Second Wallabies" of 1939–40 had to return home without playing a game when the World War II broke out.
Established in 1950, the East Africa rugby union team is a multi-national rugby union team drawing players from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, though the vast majority of these came from Kenya which has traditionally been the strongest rugby playing nation in the region. The team has played against incoming international, representative and club touring sides and it conducted seven tours between 1954 and 1982.
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.
Liam Brian Williams is a Welsh professional rugby union player who will play for Kubota Spears in Japan Rugby League One following the 2023 Rugby World Cup. At international level, he has represented Wales, having made his test debut against New Zealand in 2012, and the British & Irish Lions in 2017 and 2021. Williams has previously played for Scarlets, Saracens, and Cardiff.
Gareth Anscombe is a rugby union player who plays for the Wales national rugby union team. He primarily plays at fly-half but can also play as a fullback. Anscombe, who currently plays for the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship, is the son of former Auckland and Ulster coach Mark Anscombe.
Rhys Patchell is a Wales international rugby union player. A fly-half, he plays for the Highlanders having previously played for the Scarlets and Cardiff Blues. Patchell represented Wales on 22 occasions between 2013 and 2023.
Tomos Williams is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for Cardiff Rugby as a scrum half. He is a Wales international, and played for the Wales sevens team during the 2013–14 IRB Sevens World Series.