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Barry John was a Welsh rugby union fly-half who played in the 1960s and early 1970s during the amateur era of the sport. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC before switching to the first-class west Wales team Llanelli RFC in 1964. Whilst at Llanelli, John was selected for the Wales national team—as a replacement for David Watkins—to face a touring Australian team.
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.
Rugby union in Wales is considered a large part of Welsh national culture. Rugby union is thought to have reached Wales in the 1850s, with the national body, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) being formed in 1881. Wales are considered to be one of the most successful national sides in Rugby Union, having won the most Six Nations Championships after England, as well as having reached 3 World Cup semi finals in 1987, 2011 and 2019, having finished 3rd in the inaugural competition and having finished 4th in 2011 in a repeat of the first third place play-off. The Welsh team of the 1970s is considered to be arguably the greatest national team of all time, prompting many experts in the game to suggest that had the Rugby World Cup existed during this period, Wales would be amongst the list of World Cup winners. As of November 2021, they are ranked 8th in the world.
Scott Quinnell is a Welsh former dual-code rugby union and rugby league player who played in the 1990s and 2000s. He was a number 8 for Wales, Llanelli RFC, Llanelli Scarlets, Richmond and the British & Irish Lions in rugby union. He won 52 caps for Wales and three for the Lions, and scored 11 international tries for Wales and one for the Lions.
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.
Ray "Chico" Hopkins is a Welsh former international rugby player who was also a member of the British Lions.
Llanelli Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club founded on 30 March 1872.
Rhys Thomas "Rusty" Gabe born as Rees Thomas Gape, was a Welsh rugby union player who played club rugby for Llanelli, London Welsh and Cardiff and gained 24 caps for Wales, mainly as a centre.
Ivor Egwad Jones CBE was a Welsh rugby union player who played as a back-row forward, mainly at flanker, for Llanelli and won 19 caps for Wales, three of them as captain.
Clwb Rygbi Cwmgors is a rugby union club that represents the villages of Cwmgors, Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen and Tairgwaith, South West Wales. The area is in the principal area of Neath Port Talbot but close to the boundaries with Carmarthenshire and Powys. They play in the Admiral National League, Division 4 West Central for the 2024/25 season. The team is known as The Cherries or occasionally the Cherry Bee’s in reference to their cherry and white home kit colours.
Archie Skym was an international rugby union player for Wales and played club rugby for Llanelli and Cardiff. Skym played as a prop and was renowned for his strength and vigour and was nicknamed The butcher. An excellent scrummager, he was known to be able to lift opponents in the front row. Skym had good hands and was able to dribble with some skill.
W. Rowe Harding was a Welsh international rugby union wing who played club rugby for Swansea. An intelligent player, Harding played for several teams at club and international level. In 1926 he attended Cambridge University and played for Cambridge in a varsity match. Rowe retired from rugby at the age of 28 when he was called to the bar, and would later become a County Court judge in 1953. Harding spent his later life connected with all manner of sports. He was Welsh Rugby Union vice-president from 1953 to 1956, chairman and president of Glamorgan County Cricket Club, president of Swansea Lawn Tennis and Squash Rackets Club and patron of Cwmgors RFC.
| repyears1 = | repyears2 = 1953–1961 | repyears3 = 1959 | repcaps1 = | repcaps2 = 21 | repcaps3 = 2 | reppoints1 = | reppoints2 = 50 | reppoints3 = 5 | ru_ntupdate = | coachteams1 = | coachyears1 = | ru_coachupdate = | occupation = timber-merchant | relatives = Len Davies (brother) }}
David Onllwyn Brace was a Welsh international scrum-half who played club rugby for Newport and Aberavon. He won nine caps for Wales and would captain the team twice in the early 1960s. Brace was an exciting, unorthodox scrum-half, who epitomised the Welsh flair scrum-half, though his uneven international appearances point towards unhappiness in his match play from the Welsh selectors.
Dai Parker was a Welsh international rugby union prop who played club rugby for Swansea. He won ten caps for Wales and was selected to play in the 1930 British Lions tour of New Zealand and Australia.
The 1964 Wales rugby union tour of Africa was a collection of friendly rugby union games undertaken by the Wales national rugby union team to Africa. The tour took in five matches against African regional and invitational teams with one test against South Africa. This was the first official Wales tour to the southern hemisphere; Wales' first match outside Europe was played against East Africa on Tuesday May 12, 1964.
Frank Evans, also known by the nickname of "Frankie Dafen", was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Wales, and at club level for Llanelli, and representative level rugby league (RL) for Great Britain, Wales and Other Nationalities, and at club level for Swinton, as a wing.
William Arthur Williams was a Welsh dual-code international rugby union, and professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s and 1930s. He played representative level rugby union for Wales, and at club level for Crumlin and Cross Keys as a flanker, and representative level rugby league for Great Britain and Wales, and at club level for Salford (captain), as a prop, or second-row.
Swansea University Rugby Football Club is a Welsh amateur rugby union club based at Swansea University, Swansea. It competes in the BUCS Rugby Union Super Rugby League as of the 2021/2022 season. The club has experienced major success, winning the UAU Championship six times and the BUSA Championship twice. Swansea are also the current champions of Wales having won the 2022 Welsh Varsity in the Freshers, Women's and Men's varsity match.
Rugby union has a long history in Wales. Today it holds tier one status with the IRB. However, compared to Scotland, England, and Ireland, it was a latecomer on the international scene, and was not initially successful. Rugby union is the national sport of Wales, and is a great influence on Welsh culture.
References
- ↑ Scrum.com player profiles
- 1 2 "Teacher Hangs Up Rugby Boots". Birmingham Evening Mail . 21 July 1971. p. 14.