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The Ospreys, formerly the Neath–Swansea Ospreys is one of the four professional rugby union teams from Wales. They compete in the United Rugby Championship 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 Scarlets are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams and are based in Llanelli, Wales. Their home ground is the Parc y Scarlets stadium. They play in the United Rugby Championship and in European Professional Club Rugby competitions. The club was originally named the Llanelli Scarlets but was renamed at the start of the 2008–09 rugby season.
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. 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.
John Davies is a former Welsh rugby union prop. He spent much of his professional career playing for Llanelli RFC, and subsequently the Llanelli Scarlets regional side, where he now works as an academy coach. Davies also made 34 appearances for the Wales national team, scoring two tries.
Lyn Jones is a Wales international rugby union former 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 became a coach with national rugby team of the Netherlands.
Adam Mathias Jones is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a lock. He captained the Wales Under-19 team and earned his first caps for the Wales senior team as a replacement against England and Scotland in the 2006 Six Nations Championship. He began his career with Swansea RFC before a spell in England with Saracens and Harlequins, before returning to Wales with Cardiff RFC. At the start of the Welsh regional era, he signed for the Llanelli Scarlets and played for them for four seasons, before a seven-year spell with the Newport Gwent Dragons. He also made appearances for Llandovery RFC, Carmarthen Quins RFC, Cross Keys RFC and Newport RFC.
Robert McCusker is a Welsh former rugby union player, who played across the back row. McCusker began his career with the Scarlets, and also played for London Irish and the Ospreys before retiring. McCusker also played internationally for Wales.
Tavis Knoyle is a Wales international rugby union footballer who plays at scrum-half.
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.
Tom Prydie is a Welsh rugby union player. A fullback who can also play on the wing, Prydie is the youngest player ever to represent the Wales national team and the youngest player in the history of Europe's top rugby union club competition, the Heineken Cup.
Jonathan Evans is a Welsh rugby union footballer, who play at scrum half for Ebbw Vale RFC. He also played for the Scarlets, Newport Gwent Dragons and Bath.
Jordan Rhys Williams is a Welsh rugby union footballer who plays for the Dragons. His regular position is at full-back, but he has also played at fly-half and on the wing. He began his career with amateur side New Dock Stars RFC, before being signed by Llanelli RFC and ultimately breaking into the Scarlets regional side. However, he struggled to find playing time with the Scarlets and moved to Bristol in 2016, only to return to Wales with the Dragons two years later. He has also played internationally for Wales at under-16, under-18 and under-20 level, as well as for the Wales Sevens team.
Rhodri Williams is a Wales international rugby union player. A scrum-half, he plays his club rugby for the Dragons, having previously played for Scarlets and Bristol Bears
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.
Alex Jeffries is a Welsh former professional rugby union player who played as a prop. He retired from rugby due to a neck injury in April 2023.
The 2016–17 season was the 14th season in the history of the Scarlets, a Welsh rugby union regional side based in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. In this season, they won the Pro12 playoffs after finishing third in the league, and also competed in the Rugby Champions Cup and the Anglo-Welsh Cup. It was Wales international centre Jonathan Davies' first season back at the region after leaving for Clermont Auvergne in 2014. Scarlets also signed Welsh international Rhys Patchell, South African international Werner Kruger and New Zealander Johnny McNicholl ahead of the 2016–17 season, whilst Welsh internationals Rhodri Jones and Rhodri Williams, club stalwart Phil John and New Zealand international Regan King were among the players who left.
Ryan Conbeer is a Welsh rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship as a winger. He had previously played for the Scarlets and Llanelli RFC
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.
Iestyn Rees is a German-born Welsh rugby union player, currently playing for Pro14 and European Rugby Champions Cup side Scarlets. His preferred position is flanker.
References
- ↑ "Rhodri Jones – Player biography". Scarlets. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
- ↑ Scarlets
- 1 2 3 "Rhodri Jones". ESPN.
- ↑ Wales Squad
