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'.
Cardiff Rugby are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back to Cardiff Rugby prior to the start of the 2021–22 season.
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.
Gavin Lloyd Henson is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.
Felipe Contepomi is an Argentine professional rugby coach who is currently the head coach of the Argentine national side.
Mike Ruddock, OBE is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC. Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignation on 28 April 2010. He was the coach of the Welsh national rugby union team from 2004 until February 2006 and Leinster Coach from 1997 to 2000
Jonathan Thomas is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player, he played mainly at flanker having also played at number eight and lock. He was previously head coach of Worcester Warriors. On 17 January 2023 he was appointed as an Assistant Coach of the Welsh rugby union team.
The Wales national rugby sevens team did compete at the annual World Rugby Sevens Series between 2000 and 2022, however merged with England and Scotland to form the Great Britain sevens team from the 2022–23 season onward. The team also competes at the quadrennial Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.
Eddie O'Sullivan is an Irish rugby union coach, player and a former Gaelic footballer. He is a former head coach of Buccaneers RFC the United States national rugby union team and of the Ireland national rugby union team. He was head coach of Biarritz Olympique, who play in the second tier of France, until October 2015.
James William Hook is a retired Welsh rugby union player. Hook has won 81 caps for Wales and is Wales' fifth highest all-time points scorer. Most often playing as a fly-half, Hook is known as a utility player, and has also played as a centre, wing and fullback.
Bridgend Ravens are a semi-professional rugby union club based in Bridgend, South Wales.
Phil Greening is an English former rugby union footballer who played as a hooker. Greening finished his rugby career with London Wasps in 2005. During his career he earned 24 caps for England, as well as going to Australia with the British and Irish Lions in 2001.
Duncan James Jones is a former Welsh rugby union player who played at loose head prop for the Ospreys in the Pro12 and has played for Wales.
Alun Wyn Jones is a Welsh former international rugby union player who played as a lock. He played most of his career for Ospreys and for the Wales national team. He is the world's most-capped rugby union player, with 158 caps for Wales and 13 for the British & Irish Lions, and also holds the records for the most Wales caps and the second most Wales caps as captain. He retired from rugby in 2023.
Aled Brew is a former Wales international rugby union player who played as a winger. He made his debut for the Wales national rugby union team against Ireland in the 2007 Six Nations Championship. In his career, as well as playing for Biarritz Olympique and Bath Rugby, he is one of only a handful of players to have played for all four top-level regional teams in Wales.
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.
Tomasi Cama is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played for Manawatu in the Air New Zealand Cup, and the New Zealand Sevens team. Cama won the 2012 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year Award.
Daniel Biggar is a Welsh professional rugby union player currently playing for French Top 14 side Toulon as a fly-half. A Wales international, Biggar has also twice been selected to tour with the British and Irish Lions.
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.
Kevin Hopkins is a retired Welsh International rugby union player. He made seven appearances for his country, as well as representing Cardiff RFC, Swansea RFC and Neath RFC in the top division of Welsh club rugby, and played twice for the Barbarians invitational side. Following his retirement from playing, Hopkins has held numerous coaching positions.
