Allan Glen Bateman (born 6 March 1965) is a Welsh former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. He is a dual-code rugby international centre who represented the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

at rugby union, and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at rugby league.

Life and career

Born in the village of Caerau two miles north of the town of

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

in Cwm Llynfi - the Llynfi Valley - in the county of Glamorgan, Bateman was a precocious rugby talent playing for his Primary and Junior school team, Plasnewydd in Maesteg (coached by David Rogers), and the Maesteg Town team in the 1970s. He excelled at both rugby and soccer, being a very fast sprinter, and also possessing a very large lung capacity which allowed him to recover from physical exertion rapidly. He was an outstanding player for Maesteg Comprehensive School where he was coached by Peter Williams, brother of Wales and British Lions superstar J.J. Williams (also from the Llynfi Valley), and by Wales back row international Gareth Williams. He began his senior rugby career for Maesteg RFC "The Old Parish" at their Llynfi Road ground. As a

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for

Neath Neath (; ) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a population of 19,2 ...

, Bateman gained four caps for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 1990 before moving to

with

Warrington Wolves Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England. They play home games at the Halliwell Jones Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. Warringto ...

. Bateman played right- in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

's 12-2 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

in the 1990–91 Regal Trophy Final during the 1990–91 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

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on Saturday 12 January 1991, and played right- in the 10-40 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the

1994–95 Regal Trophy The 1994–95 Regal Trophy was a British rugby league knockout tournament. This was the 24th season that the competition was held, and was the sixth staging of the competition since it was re-named the Regal Trophy. Wigan won the final, beating W ...

Final during the 1994–95 season at

Alfred McAlpine Stadium Kirklees Stadium, currently known as the John Smith's Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Since 1994, it has been the home ground of Huddersfield Town Association Football Club ...

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

on Saturday 28 January 1995. He returned to

after it went professional in 1996 to gain a further 31 Wales caps and one for the

in 1997. In rugby league he played for Wales 13 times and Great Britain twice. He also had a successful spell in Australian rugby league with the Cronulla Sharks. During his short stint at Northampton Saints he was a key figure in their Heineken Cup triumph in 2000. He became known as "The Clamp" in his rugby league days because of the ferocity of his tackling. He follows in a tradition of rugby talents from the Llynfi Valley including Windsor Major, Ray

Chico Hopkins Ray "Chico" Hopkins (born 8 July 1946) is a Welsh former international rugby player who was also a member of the British Lions. Background Ray Hopkins was born in the industrial town of Maesteg in Cwm Llynfi - the Llynfi Valley - in the coun ...

, J. J. Williams and Gwyn Evans. Career Record in Rugby Union for Wales: Played 35: Won 22, Lost 13 Test Points: 50 Tries: 10. Following his retirement from professional rugby, Bateman resumed playing for his hometown club of Maesteg. Putting his education to good use, he worked in the Hematology Department of Princess of Wales Hospital, Bridgend and for several years continued to play at amateur level for local club

Heol-y-Cyw Heol-y-Cyw is a little village in Bridgend County Borough, Wales, located near Bridgend, in the community of Coychurch Higher. The village, and its surroundings, had a population of 538 in 2011 census. Amenities Heol-y-Cyw has one Nonconformi ...

International honours

Allan Bateman won Rugby League caps for Wales while at Warrington, Cronulla, and Bridgend Blue Bulls 1991...2003 14-caps 5(6?)-tries 20(24?)-points.

References

External links

Warrington’s World Cup heroes - Allan BatemanRugby legend Allan Bateman makes shock playing return 16 years after his Wales retirement… and proves class is permanentThe new life of Allan Bateman and the truth about being asked to throw a Wales match
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bateman, Allan 1965 births Living people 1999 Rugby World Cup players 20th-century Welsh sportsmen 21st-century Welsh sportsmen Bridgend Blue Bulls players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks players Dual-code rugby internationals Great Britain national rugby league team players Maesteg RFC players Neath RFC players Northampton Saints players Richmond F.C. players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Maesteg Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Maesteg Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Warrington Wolves players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players