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 and at other grounds around the region. 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.
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.
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.
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.
The Welsh Premier Division, known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season.
Swansea Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team which plays in the Welsh Premiership. The club play at St Helen's Rugby and Cricket Ground in Swansea and are also known as The Whites, in reference to their home kit colours.
Aberavon RFC is a rugby union club located in the Welsh town of Port Talbot, though the club's name refers to the older settlement of Aberavon which lies on the western side of the town.
Pontypool Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in the town of Pontypool, which plays in the WRU Championship. Since the regionalisation of Welsh rugby in 2003, Pontypool RFC is now a feeder club to the Dragons regional team. Pontypool play their home matches at Pontypool Park. Their traditional home kit is a red, white and black-hooped shirt and socks with white shorts, although they did gradually shift to wearing black shorts post-2003.
Abertillery Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club based in Abertillery. According to their website, they were founded in 1883 by a coal miner named Doug Wallace who was a local resident who moved from Scotland in 1882, Wallace was known for his commitment for the club until he died in 1899 and will be remembered as a special part of the club even to do this day. Every year the club celebrates Wallace's life by competing in a cross country race with 100s of the locals competing in the last 10 years Mr Phelps has won the race 10 times and is now the all-time leading winner in the competition, in one year he run the race twice before anyone had cross the line for the first time.
Glamorgan Wanderers are a Welsh rugby union club based in Ely, west Cardiff in Wales. The club is located just to the north of Western Cemetery. They currently play in the WRU Admiral Championship. Glamorgan Wanderers began as the Old Monktonians, formed by ex-pupils of Monkton House School in 1893. In 1913 the team changed their name to Glamorgan Wanderers to reflect the wider intake of their membership. The club played rugby on seven different grounds in the earlier years, including former Cardiff RFC ground Sophia Gardens and Llandaff RFC's pitch Bishop's Field, until they were able to purchase their present ground in 1951. The ground was purchased via various fund raising appeals and is named the Memorial Ground in honour of former players who had died in the two World Wars.
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales.
David J. Bishop, also known by the nickname of "Bish", is a Welsh former dual-code international rugby union and then rugby league footballer. As a scrum-half in rugby union, he made his first-class début for Ebbw Vale where he was outstanding. He then joined Pontypool in 1981, but not long after broke his neck. Despite being told he would never play again, he was back playing for Pontypool within a year. He only gained one cap for Wales – against Australia during the 1984 Australia rugby union tour of Britain and Ireland which Wales lost 28–9. Despite the loss Bishop was the only player to score a try against them.
Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales.
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.
Tredegar Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Tredegar. The club was founded in 1893 but at that time played under the name Tredegar Harriers. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Penygraig Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team based in Penygraig, Wales. Penygraig RFC formed in 1877, one of the earlier rugby clubs to emerge, and by the 1890s were a strong voice in the Welsh Rugby Union, one of four clubs from the Rhondda Valley that held WRU representation.
Byron Idris Hayward is a former international rugby union full back who played for Wales and Wales A. He had an impressive debut for Wales scoring three tries in his first international match against Zimbabwe. Hayward caused controversy in 2000 by refusing to play against Scotland A in Bridgend because of the inclusion of foreign players Shane Howarth and Brett Sinkinson. This was in the heat of the Grannygate scandal, both players claimed to have Welsh grandparents that would later be found to be false.
Steve "Junna" Jones was a Welsh rugby union hooker, who played club rugby for Pontypool RFC and Newport RFC in the 1970s and 80s. He often played in a front row partnership with Staff Jones and Graham Price at Pontypool RFC and was part of the 1983 Pontypool side to win the Schweppes Cup. Although he toured with a Welsh XV to Canada in 1980, the game did not grant the Welsh players any caps.
Abercarn Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in Abercarn near the city of Newport. They currently play in the Welsh Rugby Union Division 3 having been relegated in two consecutive seasons; from Division 3 East in 2007 and Division 4 East in 2008. The club then immediately gained promotion back to Division 4 East in 2009 and then gained promotion back to Div 3 in 2012, winning the Swalec Bowl in 2010 along the way. Abercarn RFC is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
Blaenavon Rugby Football Club are a Welsh rugby union club based in the town of Blaenavon, South Wales. Blaenavon RFC is one of the older members of the Welsh Rugby Union founded in 1877 in the Iron and coal town of Blaenavon and is a feeder club for the Newport Gwent Dragons.
