Christopher O'Brien (born 16 November 1950) 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 professional

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 1970s and 1980s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for Fairwater RFC (see Rugby in Cardiff), and representative level rugby league (RL) 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 ...

, and at club level for

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

and

Cardiff City Blue Dragons Cardiff City Blue Dragons were a rugby league team formed in 1981. Their home ground was initially Ninian Park, which was also used by Cardiff City F.C. The club spent three seasons in Cardiff before relocating to Bridgend in 1984 as the Brid ...

, as a or , and later as a .Match Programme (31 January 1982). "Cardiff vs Oldham". Cardiff City Blue Dragons. ISBN n/a

Background

O'Brien was born in

Newtown, Cardiff Newtown was a residential area of Cardiff, Wales that was also known as 'Little Ireland' because of its population of Irish families. Its six streets and 200 houses existed from the mid-nineteenth century until they were demolished in 1970. It wa ...

, Wales.

International honours

Chris O'Brien won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for

(RL) while at Cardiff City (Bridgend) Blue Dragons in the 9–28 defeat by England on Sunday 14 October 1984 at

Eugene Cross Park Eugene Cross Park is a rugby union, rugby and cricket ground in Ebbw Vale, Wales. In November 1919 the Ebbw Vale Welfare Association was formed and bought the "Bridgend Field". The of land became known as the Welfare Ground, and in 1973 its nam ...

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

References

External links

Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Christopher 1950 births Living people 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Cardiff City Blue Dragons players Oldham R.L.F.C. players Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Rugby league players from Cardiff Rugby union players from Cardiff Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players