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Gareth Bowen
Gareth Bowen (born 20 June 1979) is a Welsh former rugby union footballer who played as a fly-half. Born in Aberdare, he played for Bridgend, Bedford, Bristol, Llanelli, Scarlets, Neath, Aurillac, Ebbw Vale and Newport. Career After spending time with Bridgend and in England with Bedford and Bristol, Wales under-21 international Bowen joined Llanelli for the inaugural season of the Celtic League in 2001 and shared duties at fly-half with Stephen Jones. His performances earned him a call-up to both the Wales Sevens and Wales 'A' teams in October 2001, although in February 2002, he had to fly home from Sevens duty in New Zealand to cover for Jones who had been ordered to miss a game against Ebbw Vale to guard him against injury ahead of the 2002 Six Nations. In 2003, regional rugby came to Wales and Bowen and Jones were named as the two fly-halves for the Llanelli-based region, the Llanelli Scarlets; however, the start of the 2003–04 season coincided with the 2003 Rugby Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aberdare
Aberdare ( ; cy, Aberdâr) is a town in the Cynon Valley area of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, at the confluence of the Rivers Dare (Dâr) and Cynon. Aberdare has a population of 39,550 (mid-2017 estimate). Aberdare is south-west of Merthyr Tydfil, north-west of Cardiff and east-north-east of Swansea. During the 19th century it became a thriving industrial settlement, which was also notable for the vitality of its cultural life and as an important publishing centre. Etymology The name ''Aberdare'' means "mouth/confluence of the river dare", as the town is located where the Dare river ( cy, Afon Dâr) meets the Cynon ( cy, afon Cynon). While the town's Welsh spelling uses formal conventions, the English spelling of the name reflects the town's pronunciation in the local Gwenhwyseg dialect of South East Wales. ''Dâr'' is an archaic Welsh word for oaks (the plural of ''derwen''), and the valley was noted for its large and fine oaks as late as the nineteenth century. In ancie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Jones (rugby Union)
Stephen Michael Jones (born 8 December 1977) is a Welsh rugby union coach and former player who played primarily at fly-half. He played more than 100 times for Wales and six times for the British & Irish Lions. Jones was the record cap holder for Wales until he was overtaken by Gethin Jenkins on 15 March 2014. He remains as Wales most-capped back. With 970 international points, Jones is eighth in the List of leading rugby union test point scorers, and the second-highest Wales player on the list behind Neil Jenkins. At the end of the 2012–13 season, Jones retired from playing professional rugby to take up a coaching position at London Wasps and in August 2015 he joined the Scarlets as backs coach. Club career Llanelli RFC Jones was born in Aberystwyth. He joined Llanelli RFC in 1996, staying there until the 2003–04 season. He played his last Welsh club season for the Llanelli Scarlets, the Llanelli side in the Welsh regional setup introduced that year. In his Welsh top ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gloucester Rugby
Gloucester Rugby are a professional rugby union club based in the West Country city of Gloucester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby, as well as in the European Rugby Champions Cup. The club was formed in 1873 and since 1891 has played its home matches at Kingsholm Stadium, on the fringes of the city centre. Their biggest successes are winning the Anglo-Welsh Cup five times: in 1971–72, 1977–78, 1981–82, 2002–03 and 2010–11; and the European Challenge Cup twice: in 2005–06 and 2014–15. The club has no official nickname but are often referred to as the Cherry and Whites by supporters and the media in reference to the traditional Cherry and white hooped shirts worn by the team. Matches with local rivals Bath and Bristol Bears are referred to as West Country derbies. History Formation & Early Years The club was formed in 1873 after a meeting at the Spread Eagle Hotel with the announcement in the Gloucester Journal: ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2006–07 Heineken Cup
The 2006–07 Heineken Cup was the 12th edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. The pool draw took place on 21 June at Twickenham. The pool stages started on 20 October and concluded in January, going for six rounds. Following the quarter- and semi-finals, the final was played on 20 May before a near-capacity crowd at the 82,000-seat redeveloped Twickenham in London. London Wasps defeated Leicester Tigers 25–9, denying Tigers the domestic and European treble. Draw The top seeds from each of the participant nations (France, England, Scotland, Italy, Wales and Ireland) were all drawn into separate pools. These top seeds were; Benetton Treviso (pool 1), Edinburgh (pool 2), Sale Sharks (pool 3), Cardiff Blues (pool 4), Ulster (pool 5) and Biarritz (pool 6). Rules state that no two sides from the same country could be allocated the same pool. However, the seventh French club Castres could be drawn into any pool. The draw took place on 21 June. The greatest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2005 End-of-year Rugby Union Internationals
The 2005 end of year tests, also known as the 2005 Autumn Internationals, refers to several international rugby union matches that took place during November/December period between touring teams from the southern hemisphere – Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and South Africa – and one or more teams from the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. South Pacific team also tour the northern hemisphere as well as tier 2 European sides. Wales had the main headline during the tests after beating Australia 24-22, their first victory over Australia since the third place match in the 1987 Rugby World Cup. New Zealand completed a grand slam tour, their first since 1978. Week 1 ---- ---- Week 2 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Week 3 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Week 4 ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- Week 5 See also * End of year rugby union tests * Mid-year rugby union tests * 2005 South Africa rugby union tour of Argentin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Hercus
Mike Hercus (born June 5, 1979) is a retired rugby union player who played at fly-half for the United States national team and several top level professional clubs around the globe. Hercus is the USA Eagles' all-time leading scorer with 465 points, and is the leading scorer for the U.S. in Rugby World Cups with 77 points. At the time of his final match, Hercus was the Eagles' all-time most capped back. Early life and career Hercus was born in Falls Church, Virginia, but his parents returned to their native Australia where he was brought up and educated at Shore School North Sydney. He started in their first XV for two years and was captained by Phil Waugh when they were in year 12. He played for the Australian schoolboys rugby union team and later progressed to the Australian under 21 side. Personal life Hercus is married to TV presenter Natalie Michaels. Rugby career 2003 – 2007 The American national team, the USA Eagles, gave him a route into international rugby union ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States National Rugby Union Team
The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States. USA Rugby is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having defeated the one other competitor in 1920 and the two other competitors at the 1924 Summer Olympics. , the men's Eagles are ranked 19th in the world by the World Rugby Rankings. Their previous highest ranking was 12th, achieved ahead of the 2019 World Cup. The team's lowest ranking was 20th, first following a winless campaign in the 2008 Churchill Cup and second for a single week in 2022 during the 2023 World Cup qualifying tournament. The highest profile tournament in which the men ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ceiron Thomas
Ceiron Thomas (born 23 October 1983) is a Welsh former rugby union footballer who played for the Scarlets, Leeds Carnegie, Cornish Pirates, and St Ives RFC. His regular position was at fly-half, though he often played at fullback. Thomas began his rugby career with the Llanelli-based Scarlets, and made his debut for the region in 2003 when he played in a friendly against the Slovenia national team. Llanelli won the game 95–0, scoring 14 tries, with Thomas converting eleven of them. He also scored one penalty, bringing his points total for the game to 25. In the 2003–04 season, Thomas made five appearances for Llanelli, including three in the 2003-04 Celtic League. However, Thomas did not play for the regional side again until April 2005, almost 18 months after his last appearance. He made three more appearances in the 2004–05 season, before falling out of favour and not making another appearance until April 2006. Again, he only made two more appearances in the 2005–06 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arwel Thomas
Arwel Camber Thomas (born 8 November 1974) is a native of Trebanos in Swansea Valley. He is a former Wales international rugby union player. An outside-half, he played his club rugby for Swansea RFC. Career Arwel Thomas won his first of his 23 caps against Italy in 1996 when he replaced the injured Neil Jenkins. He played club rugby for Swansea for seven years, scoring 1963 points including 40 tries. He turned down an offer to join Toulouse in 1999, and in 2005 he returned to Neath. In 2008 he announced his retirement from rugby after the 2008 Konica Minolta Cup final against Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest () .... Thomas later reversed his decision and was given the captaincy of Neath for the 2009–10 season. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gérald Merceron
Gérald Merceron (born 25 February 1973 in Cognac) is a French former rugby union player He played at fly-half. Unusually he favoured a cone when kicking at goal; the only other player in the modern game to do the same is Chris Ellis. He played for RC Toulon, ASM Clermont Auvergne and La Rochelle, where he retired at the end of the 2007/08 season. He had 32 caps for France, from 1999 to 2003. He made his test debut on 3 June 1999 as a replacement against Romania, in a game won by 65-8, aged 26 years old. Merceron amassed an impressive 267 test points during his 32 appearances for the French side during 4 years, slotting 57 penalties, 36 conversions and 3 drop goals as well as scoring 3 tries. He was the highest scorer in the French Grand Slam of the 2002 Six Nations Championship with 80 points. His final appearance in a French jersey was in the third/fourth place play-off match against New Zealand during the 2003 Rugby World Cup The 2003 Rugby World Cup was the fifth Rugby W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andrew Mehrtens
Andrew Philip Mehrtens (born 28 April 1973) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He was regarded as a top first five-eighth, having played first for Canterbury in 1993, before being selected for the All Blacks (New Zealand's national team) in 1995 when he played in the 1995 World Cup. After his move to England, and later to France, he helped his first three clubs to promotion into their country's top flight. He first joined Harlequins in England, where in his first season he played a major factor in leading the freshly relegated club to an immediate return to the top-level Guinness Premiership. After seeing Harlequins successfully through their first season back in the Premiership, he went to the ambitious Pro D2 club Toulon for the 2007–08 season. After Toulon won the title to secure an immediate return to the Top 14, he remained in Pro D2, moving to another ambitious side, Racing Métro. For the second straight season, his team won the Pro D2 crown and a sp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French champions in 2009-10 and 2016-17. The rugby section is a part of a multi-sport club called AS Montferrand (also known as ASM Omnisports), which was founded in 1911 and adopted that name in 1919. Although the rugby section changed its name to the current ASM Clermont Auvergne in 2004, it is still frequently referred to as Montferrand both within and outside France. The team play at the 19,022-seat Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, also known by its nickname, The Bib Park. Clermont wear yellow and blue, the colours of the French tyre manufacturer Michelin, taken from the colours of Montferrand when the firm was created there in 1889. The city is where Marcel Michelin, the son of the founder of the French tyre manufacturer, decided to impl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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